NO WORSE THAN FIRST HOMER BY ROSS IN 11TH CLINCHES TIE FOR DODGERS DODGERS 4, COLORADO 2.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 Dodger Stadium • • [ shook with the thunderous joy of 53,438 revelers Thursday night, led in their cheering by the ever-exuberant Jose Lima, who stood outside the dugout and waved his arms wildly in the air. The Dodgers are still one victory away from the real celebration, the one that will accompany the National League West title, but it seems that time will come soon, maybe even tonight. David Ross David Ross refers to:
n. Baseball A measure of a batter's performance obtained by dividing the total of base hits by the number of times at bat, not including walks. Noun 1. , but a year's worth of frustration went over the left-field fence along with the ball as he hit a two-run home run off Steve Reed Steve Reed may refer to
The Colorado Rockies are a Major League Baseball team based in Denver, Colorado. They are in the West Division of the National League. . ``I've been struggling all year at the plate, and I haven't really picked the guys up at all, but I finally got a chance to do it'' Ross said. ``It felt great to round third and slap (coach Glenn Hoffman's) hand.'' With the victory, the Dodgers clinched a tie for the division title. 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 beat 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. on Thursday to stay alive, but for the Giants to win the division they would have to sweep the Dodgers in this weekend's three-game series, then win a one-game playoff on Monday, although it's possible that the Giants could make the playoffs as the wild-card team. One loss by Houston, in its three-game series this weekend against Colorado, would also guarantee the Dodgers a playoff spot. ``There's no way they're going to beat us in our house three times. ... Let's do it (today). The division belongs to us,'' said Lima, who pitched seven strong innings to keep the Dodgers in the game. It's easy to see why the Dodgers are confident after they twice rallied from deficits in their 52nd come-from-behind victory of the season. The champagne, on hand in case the Dodgers wrapped up a playoff spot Thursday, will remain on ice for tonight, but Ross could be excused for wanting to sneak a glass or two. The Dodgers had counted on Ross to fill the gap left when they shipped catcher 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). to Florida just before the trade deadline. But Ross didn't get the job done, and as of late, he had been relegated to starting only against left-handed starters. Ross entered the game as a defensive replacement in the 10th inning and was behind the plate when Jeromy Burnitz's RBI RBI abbr. Baseball runs batted in Noun 1. rbi - a run that is the result of the batter's performance; "he had more than 100 rbi last season" run batted in single off Eric Gagne gave the Rockies a 2-1 lead. But the Dodgers rallied and tied the game when Jayson Werth's groundout to second scored pinch runner Antonio Perez from third. Perez was running for Hee-Seop Choi, who led off the 10th with a pinch-hit double. Destiny found Ross in the 11th. With two outs, Alex Cora was hit by a pitch by Brian Fuentes, and the Rockies brought in Reed to face Ross, who took a big swing at a 2-1 slider A block of material that holds the read/write head of a magnetic disk. See flying head. . Ross took off running, and it seemed the ball would stay in play, but it hit the top of the bullpen roof in left field and sent the stadium into hysteria. ``I knew it had a chance,'' said Ross, who hit his fifth homer of the season, ``but when you're hitting a buck-sixty-nine, you hustle. ... I've seen (my teammates') faces when I come back to the dugout, and they usually look like they feel sorry for me. A lot of people said you can't make it up in one at-bat, but this feels a lot better.'' Fuentes (2-4) took the loss, and Yhency Brazoban (5-2) pitched the 11th for the victory. But afterward, all hands were patting Ross on the head. ``By the way, I called it,'' Gagne said with a smile. ``I'm so happy for him, because he's so positive every day. He calls great games, and it couldn't happen to a better guy. He knows he hasn't been hitting the way he knows how to, but this was the biggest game of the year and he came through.'' As the crowd roared and Ross came out for a curtain call, Lima lingered on the warning track near the on-deck circle and did his best cheerleading The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page. impression. ``I can celebrate even better (tonight),'' Lima said. ``To the people who didn't believe in us in spring training, we're here.'' Rich Hammond, (818) 713-3611 rich.hammond(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): 3 photos, 2 boxes Photo: (1 -- color) Catcher David Ross jumps for joy as he rounds the bases after hitting a two-run homer in the 11th inning. Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer (2) Right fielder Shawn Green is congratulated by Jose Lima after scoring for the Dodgers in their game against the Rockies. Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer (3 -- color) GAGNE Box: (1) DODGERS 4, ROCKIES 2 (11 INN.) (2) STORY LINES |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion