That's painful: Dodgers let one slip away with two outs in the ninth, fall 5-4 to Marlins
Momentum can come from a lot of places and the Dodgers went to several Monday. Turns out, they needed to find one more.
The kids came through, the old guy who looks like a kid came through, the struggling first baseman drove in the winning run and the veteran pitcher shined.
It was looking like it would add up to a 4-3 victory when Jonathan Broxton came on in the ninth and quickly recorded two outs.
Even after a walk and a single put runners at the corners, it seemed the Dodgers would escape with the victory when Scott Cousins hit a routine grounder to shortstop Jamey Carroll.
Only Carroll missed the ball for an error as Florida tied the score, 4-4. Then after an intentional walk loaded the bases, Omar Infante hit a line drive to rookie Jerry Sands in left field.
Sands misjudged the ball, took several steps in, then broke back, only for the ball to sail over his glove for the game-winning hit, the Marlins escaping with a 5-4 victory.
It added up to one of the Dodgers’ toughest losses this season, a seemingly sure victory vanishing with two outs in the ninth on walks, an error and a misplayed final ball.
Things had been going so well for the Dodgers to that point, the loss was fairly stunning. Sands had his first three-hit game, rookie Ivan DeJesus Jr. his first multi-hit game, 37-year-old Carroll singled in the go-head run and James Loney drove in what appeared to be the winning run, to support a second consecutive strong start by Jon Garland.
For Broxton, it made for his first blown save in six opportunities.
Garland pitched seven innings, giving up two runs on identical home runs by Chris Coghlan on identical pitches.
Otherwise, he was a pitcher in control. He gave up four hits, walked one and struck out four. This on the heels of his last outing, a four-hitter against Atlanta.
Andre Ethier singled in the first inning to push his career-high hitting streak to 22 games.
Sands and Aaron Miles joined Carroll and Loney in driving in runs for the Dodgers.
RELATED:
Dodgers-Marlins: How the runs were scored
-- Steve Dilbeck
Photo: Dodgers shortstop Jamey Carroll commits an error on a groundball in the ninth inning against the Marlins on Monday night. Credit: Wilfredo Lee / Associated Press
Bad lost, and hopefully there will only be 51 more of them......
Posted by: Michael E | 04/25/2011 at 07:51 PM
oh, my bad loss
Posted by: Michael E | 04/25/2011 at 07:52 PM
What the- no dudger home runs tonight in Florida?
Alright, who turned off the jet stream from Chicago?
No need for 1000 words, front page picture paints 13 - "I'm a slappy and once more have failed - let down the mission folk. I am but a podsednik."
Posted by: 16blows | 04/25/2011 at 08:34 PM
Broxton - 12 hits, 7 walks in 10 1/3
3 straight games, our wusspen had the lead, 6 outs to go. In 2 of the 3, gave up 3 runs and lost.
In 24 games, I wonder how many full innings have been pitched by a member of our wusspen where the opponent was retired in order. Once the game goes to the pen, the full innings from that point on - how many 1-2-3 innings this season out of a possible how many?
I don't think our relievers couldn't lock up a lunch box.
Posted by: alanw19 | 04/25/2011 at 08:50 PM
Time for Mattingly to make his first tough decision, and pull Broxton as the closer, insert Padilla, and let it ride for awhile, see how it goes. Fielding lost the game tonight, but JBrox is consistently hittable in the ninth, needs to get his head straight riding the pine for the time being.
Posted by: Tom Agamenoni | 04/25/2011 at 08:54 PM
Why is Jonathon Broxton playing major league baseball? If anyone has an answer to that question, I would love to hear it. I'm at a loss.
Posted by: Steve | 04/25/2011 at 09:05 PM
Broxton is a white knuckle ride. Dodgers do not have a closer.
Posted by: fbmvp | 04/25/2011 at 09:08 PM
Guessing I wasn't the only nervous one when Broxton came in.
Posted by: B. Madoff | 04/25/2011 at 09:37 PM
Tough loss, that's the way it goes. The main thing is that they forget it as soon as they can and just turn the page. There are a lot of ways to lose and tonight was just one of them.
Posted by: OldBrooklynFan | 04/25/2011 at 09:43 PM
Yea, JC has to pick that grounder & Sands is just inexperienced in LF, BUT & speaking of JB, it's a BIG BUTT, he is NOT a Closer - he allows a few hits, & a good Closer does not do that game afrer freaking game! He has to shut down the 9th but he's pitching like a mid or long reliever!
Posted by: Dallas | 04/25/2011 at 09:49 PM
isnt it obvious? Reliable ones are Padilla, Kuo, and Guerrin for one inning. Unreliable is the one and only Broxton. The rest are 50/50.
I hope this was a tryout for Broxton and he didnt make the cut.
Posted by: mti312 | 04/25/2011 at 09:52 PM
Defense let the team down in the 9th. But Brox is pretty much terrible every time, too many walks and hits every time, bad ERA.
He had no business walking Bonifacio, the guy has one career homerun. Bottom line is he's not doing a good job blowing anyone away anymore and not sharp enough to fool many people. His second out was a rocket of a shot to James Loney, Brox was just lucky it was hit at James.
Posted by: aaron d. | 04/25/2011 at 10:47 PM
This is what happens when Broxton is the closer. He never had it since the great posteason collapse of 2007. We need to put the right person in the right position. Broxton is just unfit for the role.
Posted by: Kid Kuo | 04/25/2011 at 11:01 PM
Padilla was "reliable" tonight? He was worse than Broxton, wasn't he?
Posted by: jimishelter | 04/25/2011 at 11:18 PM
what was brox on the gun? the last game, after 3-4 days off, he couldn't get it to 95. he was at 92-93. when is someone going to sit down and say, hey, something is wrong with this guy. he was throwing 97 early last year, something has got to be wrong. he is walking guys more than ever before. he can't get a swing and miss anymore. that walk to bonifacio was inexcusable. he strikes out three times more than he walks. brox should have just blown this guy away. instead he walks him so he can pitch to one of the best hitters in baseball? yeah, let's put in padilla and see what happens. can't be any worse than brox.
Posted by: HI Dodger Fan | 04/26/2011 at 12:26 AM
and one more thing. why wasn't tony gwynn in as defensive replacement? because he pinch-ran in the seventh? donnie has to think about defense in LF no matter who is out there (other than gwynn of course).
Posted by: HI Dodger Fan | 04/26/2011 at 12:55 AM
Broxton should not be in the big leagues. This guy goes out only to give away games that everyone else works so hard to get. Mattingly, what were u thinking taking out Garland!? He's one pitcher that can actually pitch a full 9 or at least a full 8 and it's not like he wasn't on a roll! Anyway, it's very hard to watch games when Broxton comes out in the ninth just to hand it over. Broxton, you're worthless!!!!!!!
Posted by: ThatOneArtist | 04/26/2011 at 01:39 AM
That was painful to watch.
Posted by: California Sun | 04/26/2011 at 04:31 AM
following on aaron's comment about the rocket shot to loney....
this is one day after he got two of the outs in the 9th at Wrigley on nice grabs by Loney on the 1B line and Miles diving into the grass up the middle - after Brox walked the first batter he faced with a 4-run lead. Not a stretch to say that could have been 3 more hits he's allowed.
Posted by: alanw19 | 04/26/2011 at 04:36 AM
broxton is worthless. two outs bottom of the 9th, bonifacio up, with 1, count 'em, 1 career home run. broxton walks him. way to challenge him, jonathan!
Posted by: Lakeshowinphx | 04/26/2011 at 04:57 AM
I have been a Broxton defender and last night he gets a save and we win with normal defense. However, there is a serious issue with his stuff.
I remember him lighting up the radar gun in Miami with 98+ stuff a few years ago. His slider was NinetyFreakin'One! Now his fastball is as low as 91 and his slider as low as 83, with no sharpness. Somethng is clearly wrong and has been for almost a year. Is it his mechanics, his arm, his shoulder, his knee, his foot, or between his ears? Honeycutt needs to spend some serious time with him and figure it out and in the meantime, Donny needs to start strategizing about a new closer among Padilla (who was worse last night than Broxton but had great defense), McDougal, Jansen, Kuo, and Hawksworth. In Chicago, Hawksworth was routinely throwing 5 mph higher than Broxton did when he came in on the same gun.
Posted by: Airedale | 04/26/2011 at 05:35 AM
This train-wreck is downright hard to take. Can somebody PLEEEZE step up and actually EARN your paycheck! For the first time EVER i'm finding myself "embarrassed" by EVERYTHING Dodgers these days!
Posted by: CallzitlikesIseezit | 04/26/2011 at 05:36 AM
It's funny, everyone knows that Broxton is not a closer except for the guy that counts, Mattingly.
Posted by: McCourt blows | 04/26/2011 at 05:45 AM
Would we be even commenting on the worthlessness of Broxton if James "the rally killer" Loney could even bat his weight? trade Loney for ANY RELIEVER, play Sands @ 1st base for the next 10 years and watch Gwynn turn into a star in left field.
Posted by: CallzitlikesIseezit | 04/26/2011 at 06:20 AM
"duds" merely playing like the collective bunch of losers they truly are, & not mere coincidence that they lose in this manner on a day when a stooge from THE WORST U.S. prez EVER, dubya, enters into this 3-ring circus
Posted by: SendInTheClownz | 04/26/2011 at 06:41 AM
Broxton's new theme song should be "Another One Bite's the Dust" He needs to go back down to Minors. We have seen this scenario to many times.
Posted by: Devoted Dodger Fan | 04/26/2011 at 07:24 AM
You cannot have a winning team with Fatso Broxton on it. He exudes no confidence.
The sooner the Dodgers get rid of him, the better their prospects will be.
Posted by: Chumpy Kemp | 04/26/2011 at 08:03 AM
SendInTheClownz, You managed to tie this baseball game to politics??
Benched!
No wait...You're fired!
Posted by: FeedYour Head | 04/26/2011 at 09:45 AM
I agree with those who point out Broxton's loss of velocity...he never had good command but @99-100 could blow the ball by most hitters upstairs. Now in the mid 90's at best with no reliable second pitch he is very hittable and resorts to nibbling at the knees resulting in all the walks you see. It's not injury or his mentality or makeup he simply ran out of bullets. A one-pitch pitcher who maybe gets it up to 95 or so is not gonna last long in the majors.
Posted by: Doug C. | 04/26/2011 at 09:46 AM
Great closers lift up their teammates and inspire better play all around them, even from the defense. But last night, with our closer on the mound, the Dodgers' defense booted everything in sight.
Here's one suggestion to keep from having to go to this shaky 'pen: Insert Padilla into a 6-man rotation and tell all the starters they're gonna get more rest between starts, but they're gonna have to pitch 9 innings every time out. Period. Stop tracking pitch counts. There's no help coming. You're on your own. Get used to it.
Posted by: BlueinAZ | 04/26/2011 at 09:55 AM
watch Gwynn turn into a star--are you kidding? he's 28 years old and has a .246 career average with 5 homers in more than 1300 at bats. he's as good as he's going to get. he's a useful pr/defensive replacement/spare part, but that's it.
Posted by: Silversun | 04/26/2011 at 09:56 AM
I actually agree with SendInTheClownz. It's already tough to be a Dodger fan what with all the underachievers, but it's really difficult to root for a team that has ties with the worst president of all time.
Posted by: Chumpy Kemp | 04/26/2011 at 10:02 AM
Carrol makes the terrible error but Broxton had the chance to end it and take one positive step forward. Arguably the fastest guy on the team, bonifacio comes up with a bat planted on his shoulder by the manager betting on the hope that Broxton will walk him and Broxton walks him. Terrible. In 5 bat on the shoulder pitches he could only throw 2 strikes. Fastballs. When Kuo comes back this bullpen needs to be gutted. I don't care how much he's getting paid, he needs to be sent down and learn a third pitch or at least be able to throw a fastball for a god damned strike! when the bat is shouldered. Kuo and Padilla close, Guerrier sets up. Roll the dice with some minor leaguers. We paid for a decent rotation screw the pitch count make em throw 7 every game. If one goes down Rubby gets a shot. Hawksworth doesn't look good as a reliever. His stuff seems better as a starter. Send him down stretch out the arm. Dana Evaland can work out of the pen and spot start. But then we'd have a situational lefty, no that won't work. Broxton needs to go down what ever the case.
Posted by: N.P.Krohn | 04/26/2011 at 10:40 AM
>>> It's already tough to be a Dodger fan what with all...
Stop right there. It's not tough to be a Dodger fan at all. I love being a Dodger fan. Always have. Always will. It's tough to watch what's been going on with my team what with all [insert anything here] going on. I hope it gets better. But being a Dodger fan is part of who I am. That's not going to change.
Posted by: BlueinAZ | 04/26/2011 at 10:50 AM
You make it seem like Broxton had nothing to do with it. Veteran Brox-watchers knew he had to load the bases somehow. 1-2-3 9th? No way. Cousins got a great jump out of the box from the left side on the grounder to Carroll. Not sure Carroll would have gotten him anyway. Ball over Sands' head was a rocket.
Posted by: Hollywood Dodger Mark | 04/26/2011 at 11:53 AM
Johnathan Broxton??? No doubt he has stuff. Question his mentality.
Posted by: pt1kahlua | 04/26/2011 at 02:24 PM