IZTURIS IS NO LIABILITY AS LEFTY SHORTSTOP DELIVERS CLUTCH HIT IN VICTORY DODGERS 3, PITTSBURGH 2.Byline: Jill Painter Staff Writer Pittsburgh manager Lloyd McClendon Lloyd Glenn McClendon (born January 11, 1959 in Gary, Indiana, USA) is the Hitting Coach for the Detroit Tigers, serving under Jim Leyland. McClendon is also a former Major League Baseball player and a former manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates. chose to intentionally walk 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 to get to Cesar Izturis. It would've been a wise move last season. But the switch-hitting shortstop - better known for his stellar defensive plays - has been hitting well from the left side of the plate, and he smacked a single to right field off starter Jeff D'Amico For the Kansas City Royals pitcher, see . Jeffrey Charles D'Amico (born December 27, 1975) was a Major League Baseball pitcher from 1996 to 2004. He is a native of St. Petersburg, Florida. to drive in the go-ahead run with two outs in the seventh inning. Izturis and the usual cast of characters - Dave Roberts For other uses, see Dave Roberts (disambiguation). David Ray Roberts (born May 31, 1972 in Okinawa, Japan), is a Major League Baseball center fielder for the San Francisco Giants. , Kevin Brown The name Kevin Brown can refer to several different people, including the following:
The Dodgers have won seven of their past 10 games to improve to 16-16. ``As soon as they walked (Cora), I told myself, `Just have a quality at- bat. Hit the ball hard somewhere,' '' Izturis said. Izturis' big hit, which put the Dodgers ahead 2-1, was the ninth in his last 24 at-bats (.375 average) from the left side. He started the season batting .190 left-handed. Last year, the 23-year-old struggled in a platoon with Cora and batted just .235. ``You talk about his defense, but from the left side, he's swinging the bat well,'' Cora said. ``He's becoming the total package. He's going to be a good one.'' Before the game, Dodgers manager Jim Tracy was marveling at Izturis' progress. ``We're enthralled en·thrall tr.v. en·thralled, en·thrall·ing, en·thralls 1. To hold spellbound; captivate: The magic show enthralled the audience. 2. To enslave. with him, with what he's done defensively and what he's going to do defensively,'' Tracy said. ``But this little guy came up with some big hits as of late.'' Both teams played like they had a plane to catch as the game lasted just 1 hour, 55 minutes. But the Dodgers don't leave for their much-anticipated series against the New York Mets
After Izturis' scored Brian Jordan in the seventh, Cora scored with a head- first slide into home plate on a wild pitch during Brown's at-bat. Kendall was blocking the plate In baseball, blocking the plate is a common technique performed by a catcher to prevent a runner from scoring. The act of blocking the plate accounts for most of the physical contact in baseball. , but Cora extended his hand through Kendall's legs to get the call, which Kendall and McClendon argued to no avail. Cora sprinted back to the dugout as soon as he was ruled safe. Brown made some big pitches in improving to 3-1 and lowering his ERA to 2.84. He gave up a run in the third and helped his cause with a couple of solid defensive plays in the sixth. ``Some days, that's the way it goes,'' Brown said. ``Some days you're locked in and some days it goes downhill. You get a little rhythm going and start making better pitches.'' Brown allowed four hits in eight innings and threw just 84 pitches. If you take away Brown's two starts against San Francisco when he was sick, he's 3-0 with a 1.31 ERA. He didn't have a chance to throw a complete game as Gagne started the ninth, and Brown wasn't even miffed miff n. 1. A petulant, bad-tempered mood; a huff. 2. A petty quarrel or argument; a tiff. tr.v. miffed, miff·ing, miffs To cause to become offended or annoyed. . ``That's Eric's department,'' Brown said. ``We had a contingency plan if we scored more runs.'' Meaning Brown would've had an opportunity to pitch the ninth. Gagne earned his 10th save, but his scoreless streak this season ended at 15 2/3 innings. So Gagne isn't perfect but he still did his job. With one out, Gagne got Aramis Ramirez to ground into a fielder's choice, but Kendall - who had drawn a walk and advanced to third base on Randall Simon's single - scored. Gagne then struck out Matt Stairs on a high fastball. ``You know you're going to give up some runs,'' Gagne said. D'Amico allowed a single to 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). in the first inning and then retired 16 in a row. Dave Roberts snapped the streak in the sixth inning to start a two-out rally. He singled to shortstop and Jack Wilson threw it away - Wilson's first error this season - to advance Roberts to second. Wilson, a Thousand Oaks High product, had a streak of 52 consecutive errorless games dating to last season. He was the last National League shortstop without an error this season. CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1) Alex Cora, left, scores on a wild pitch as Pittsburgh catcher Jason Kendall tries to tag him out in the seventh inning Sunday. (2) Kevin Brown improved to 3-1 with a 2.84 ERA after allowing one run in eight innings. Tina Burch/Staff Photographer |
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