CORA FOULS OFF THEN TEES OFF HOMER LIFTS ALVAREZ, DODGERS DODGERS 4, CHICAGO 0.Byline: Rich Hammond Rich Hammond Los Angeles Daily News sports writer. Instrumental in bringing the Los Angeles Kings hockey organization closer to the fans. He is the atypical "what a guy" to Kings fans everywhere. Rich Hammond on himself. Staff Writer There probably haven't been many harder-earned home runs in baseball history than the one Alex Cora José Alexander (Alex) Cora (born October 18, 1975 in Caguas, Puerto Rico) is a utility infielder for the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball. University of Miami career hit in the seventh inning Wednesday night. In a remarkable display of bat control and a stunning waste of baseballs, Cora fouled off 14 consecutive pitches and then crushed Matt Clement's 18th pitch into the right-field bullpen to help the Dodgers to a 4-0 victory over the Chicago Cubs in front of 43,233 at Dodger Stadium • • [ . Some went left, some went right, some into the stands and others stayed in play, but none landed in fair territory. Fans roared as the foul total reached double-digits on the 2-2 count, then Cora's teammates spilled out of the dugout as he gave them a four-run lead with the two-run homer. The Dodgers maintained the best winning percentage in baseball with a 22-10 record and now have won 9 of 11 series, including matchups against Florida and twice each against San Diego San Diego (săn dēā`gō), city (1990 pop. 1,110,549), seat of San Diego co., S Calif., on San Diego Bay; inc. 1850. San Diego includes the unincorporated communities of La Jolla and Spring Valley. Coronado is across the bay. and San Francisco San Francisco (săn frănsĭs`kō), city (1990 pop. 723,959), coextensive with San Francisco co., W Calif., on the tip of a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, which are connected by the strait known as the Golden . Wilson Alvarez The statistics are stunning. In 31 1/3 innings this season, he has allowed four earned runs and has a strikeout-to-walk ratio In baseball statistics, strikeout-to-walk ratio (K/BB) is a measure of a pitcher's ability to control pitches; calculated as: strikeouts divided by bases on balls. A pitcher that possesses a great K/BB ratio is usually a dominant power pitcher, such as Randy Johnson, Pedro of seven to one (28 strikeouts against four walks). Alvarez has walked two batters and struck out 21 in his past 23 1/3 innings. Alvarez has now allowed one or zero runs in 10 of his 14 starts with the Dodgers in the past two years. The Cubs didn't go as quietly as the Florida Marlins The Florida Marlins are a professional baseball team based in Miami Gardens, Florida. The Marlins are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League. From to the present, the Marlins have played in Dolphin Stadium. did five days earlier, when Alvarez allowed one hit in seven innings, but that mattered little to the Dodgers. Alvarez stranded one runner in the first, two in the second and one in the third, then retired 13 consecutive batters until Corey Patterson Donald Corey Patterson (born August 13, 1979 in Atlanta, Georgia) is an American baseball player and an outfielder for the Baltimore Orioles. High School Patterson attended Harrison High School in Kennesaw, Georgia. lined a single to right with two outs in the seventh. Despite the fact he had been removed after 80 pitches against Florida, Alvarez hit in the seventh, having thrown 94 pitches. He left with two outs in the eighth after he walked Ramon Martinez Ramon Martinez is the name of several people:
Alvarez's game was remarkably similar to the one he threw last Aug. 9 against the Cubs, when he pitched seven shutout innings, allowed four hits, walked none and struck out six. Before the game, manager Jim Tracy stopped short of saying Alvarez would be a permanent member of the Dodgers' rotation, but also indicated it wouldn't be a start-by-start decision. ``Right now I'd say we're committed to him and I'd say we have every reason to stay committed to him,'' Tracy said. ``Right now Wilson Alvarez is in our rotation and Jose Lima is in our bullpen. It makes sense to have him in there, especially after what we saw last Friday.'' Alvarez got some unconventional support Wednesday, as the Dodgers scored twice in the third inning off Clement (5-2) but had only one of their five hits go beyond the infield dirt. In between two flyouts, Alvarez blooped a single to left. Then the little-ball rally started. Paul Lo Duca Paul Anthony Lo Duca (born April 12, 1972 in Brooklyn, New York) is a catcher in Major League Baseball who plays for the New York Mets. Previously, Lo Duca played for the Los Angeles Dodgers (1998-2004) and Florida Marlins (2004-2005). dribbled a single to third base, then Milton Bradley's one-hopper to the mound looked as though it would end the inning, but Clement lobbed a throw from his knees and Bradley beat it out. With the bases loaded, Shawn Green smashed a one-hopper to third that bounced off Aramis Ramirez and Alvarez scored. Adrian Beltre then hit a ball, almost identical to Lo Duca's, and Ramirez couldn't get off a throw and Lo Duca scored for a 2-0 Dodgers lead. Beltre hit first base with his left leg after a long stride and fell to the ground in pain but stayed in the game. Beltre has been playing with a sore left ankle. Beltre has now hit safely in 15 consecutive games, the second-best streak in the National League this season, and 21 of his last 22 games. Rich Hammond, (818) 713-3611 rich.hammond(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): photo, box Photo: (color) Alex Cora is greeted by Dodgers teammates after hitting a two-run homer that followed 14 consecutive fouled-off pitches. Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer Box: GAME RECAP |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion