DODGERS SQUANDER THEIR OPPORTUNITIES ST. LOUIS 7, DODGERS 5.Byline: Jill Painter Staff Writer All the action Sunday at Dodger Stadium • • [ occurred on the field, not in general manager Paul DePodesta's office. Just hours after baseball's non-waiver trade deadline passed, Ricky Ledee's three-run homer in the eighth inning pulled the Dodgers even with St. Louis. Then they loaded the bases in the ninth, and how satisfying would it have been to beat the Cardinals, the National League's best team, on a day they couldn't come to terms on a blockbuster deal? It wasn't to be. Olmedo Saenz grounded into a double play to end the threat, and Jim Edmonds James Patrick "Jim" Edmonds (born June 27, 1970 in Fullerton, California) is a left-handed batter who plays for the St. Louis Cardinals. Edmonds is affectionately known as Jimmy Baseball [1], "Lassie" and as "Hollywood"[2] among Cardinals fans. ended all hope with a two-run homer off reliever Wilson Alvarez ``To have the type of heroics we had today and come up short,'' Dodgers manager Jim Tracy
The Dodgers failed to capitalize on Cap´i`tal`ize on` v. t. 1. To turn (an opportunity) to one's advantage; to take advantage of (a situation); to profit from; as, to capitalize on an opponent's mistakes s>. 10 walks - the Cardinals were issued nine bases on balls - but lost no ground in the NL West. They trail Arizona and 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. by four games. Ledee's homer, off Cardinals reliever Ray King, tied the score 5-5, and the Dodgers quickly put two men on base against Cal Eldred When he first entered professional baseball, he played for the Milwaukee Brewers. , who came on for the ninth and promptly allowed a bunt single to Cesar Izturis and walked Oscar Robles Oscar M. Robles (b. April 9, 1976, in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico) has spent much of this decade as a third baseman for the Mexico City Red Devils (Diablos Rojos del México), and briefly as an infielder for the Los Angeles Dodgers from May 2005 through 2006. . Tracy had Milton Bradley lay down a sacrifice bunt, and Jeff Kent was intentionally walked to load the bases. Saenz followed with a grounder to shortstop Abraham Nunez, and that was that. Tracy was asked afterward about the decision to have Bradley bunt. ``What if he grounds into a double play?'' he said. ``With those two professional guys (Saenz and Jose Valentin) coming to the plate, you take your chances.'' Said Bradley: ``I don't think I'd hit into a double play. I'd either hit or strike out.'' The Dodgers squandered squan·der tr.v. squan·dered, squan·der·ing, squan·ders 1. To spend wastefully or extravagantly; dissipate. See Synonyms at waste. 2. other opportunities, leaving 10 men on. They loaded the bases in the sixth with two outs, and St. Louis manager Tony La Russa brought Al Reyes in for starter Mark Mulder. Ledee, pinch-hitting, struck out swinging. Edmonds' homer was to left-center on a 3-2 fastball from Alvarez. ``It was the same pitch I got him out (with) yesterday,'' Alvarez said. ``It was just more over the plate.'' Alvarez, who came off the disabled list July 19, continues to pitch with a sore left shoulder. ``I was just hoping we would score when the bases were loaded,'' he said, ``so I didn't have to go in.'' Former Dodger Mark Grudzielanek staked the Cardinals to a 3-1 lead, hitting a three-run homer to left off starter Odalis Perez in the fourth inning. Perez allowed four runs on four hits in 6 2/3 innings. And then weighed in on the Dodgers' failure to make a trade before the deadline. ``I don't make those decisions,'' he said. ``It was nice to know we might have had a big name in the clubhouse for the next road trip, but that didn't happen. Now we know we'll stay with what we have.'' Asked if that was enough, Perez said: ``It's what I think. ... We have good potential here. If we stay together and play the game the way it's supposed to be played, we will be fine.'' If the Dodgers were in the NL Central, with the Cardinals, they would be anything but fine. They'd be 19 1/2 games back. But in the hapless NL West, they remain very much in the playoff race. Jill Painter, (818) 713-3615 jill.painter(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): photo, 3 boxes Photo: Wilson Alvarez isn't happy after surrendering a two-run home run to St. Louis' Jim Edmonds in the 11th inning. Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer Box: (1) GAME RECAP (2) HOW THE RUNS SCORED (3) ALMANAC almanac, originally, a calendar with notations of astronomical and other data. Almanacs have been known in simple form almost since the invention of writing, for they served to record religious feasts, seasonal changes, and the like. |
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