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The Leading Logic In Sports Handicapping |
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PHOENIX (Ticker) -- Finding offense has been a sore subject most
of the season for the Los Angeles Dodgers. However, if one game
is any proof of what they can do under his tutelage, new hitting
coach Don Mattingly may have an easier job than expected.
James Loney hit the tie-breaking homer in the 11th inning
Friday, powering the Dodgers into a first-place tie once again
atop the National League West with a 8-7 win over the Arizona
Diamondbacks.
Nomar Garciaparra homered twice for Los Angeles (47-49), which
used a four-homer effort to grab a share of first place in the
division with Arizona. The Dodgers have tied the Diamondbacks
twice this month in the standings, but have been unable to
overtake them.
"You never know what to expect," Dodgers manager Joe Torre said.
"After three or four days off, we came out swinging the bats and
I was really pleased with that."
After rallying from a three-run, second-inning deficit,
Garciaparra used a two-run homer in the third and a solo shot in
the sixth to close the gap to 7-6 before Matt Kemp's solo blast
knotted the game at 7-7 in the seventh.
"First, it's good to be a help" Garciaparra said. "It's just a
matter of contributing. "(The Diamondbacks) swung the bats
really well, put some runs up, we needed to put some runs up
ourselves in order to pull this one off."
Loney completed the comeback in the 11th with a solo home run
off Doug Slaten (0-3), handling a high fastball from the
reliever and sending it into the right-field stands for his
eighth homer.
"It feels good," Loney said. "To get the sweet spot of the bat
on the ball, in your count, you always want to do that."
Cory Wade (1-1) tossed a scoreless 10th inning to collect his
first victory in the majors before new closer Jonathan Broxton,
filling in for the injured Takashi Saito, set Arizona down in
order for his first save of the season.
The power-hitting and scoring display was unusual for the
Dodgers, who entered play Friday's action with 65 homers, tied
with the Toronto Blue Jays for the second-worst total in the
majors, and 390 runs, the fifth-worst mark in baseball. But it
had to be a welcome sight for Mattingly, who is replacing Mike
Easler.
"We want a better approach team wise," Mattingly said. "We want
to be able to attack people with what the guys are doing and
have an understanding what that pitcher does, not give in to his
strengths, make him come to us a little bit more. You got some
veterans who know what they are doing and other young guys who
need to keep refining their game. And that's what we are trying
to do."
In a game marked by its twists and turns, the Dodgers jumped to
a three-run lead in their first at-bat only to be faced by a
three-run deficit after two frames. However, Garciaparra, Kemp
and Loney all did their part to bring the Dodgers back.
The Dodgers surged to a 3-0 lead in the first off starter Doug
Davis - capped by Garciaparra's first hit of the contest, a
run-scoring single - but were quickly answered by the
Diamondbacks' four-run response in the bottom of the frame.
"Both teams swung the bat well in the first couple of innings,"
Arizona manager Bob Melvin said. "It looked a little sloppy
defensively in the first couple of innings, tightened it up
considerably and it ended up being a good game, obviously. We
had a few more opportunities, with some guys on, typically in a
game like that one pitch will end up costing it and Loney got a
good pitch to hit."
Arizona doubled up Los Angeles in the next inning, increasing
the margin to 6-3 after two when Conor Jacks
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