The headline to this story tells you what happened.
The Dodgers beat the Angels, 4-3, Tuesday, with a walk-off win in the bottom of the ninth at Dodger Stadium.
As far as the how...let's just say it won't be in the team capsule.
With the game tied, 3-3, in the bottom of the ninth, pinch-hitter Andre Ethier came to bat with runners on first and third, and a chance to be a hero.
On a 3-2 pitch, against the Angels drawn in infield, Ethier hit a chopper to third baseman David Freese.
His first thought: “I cursed in my head. I said, ‘Oh, s--t’,” Ethier said in the locker room after the game.
Juan Uribe was three-quarters of the way home when Angels third baseman David Freese bare-handed the ball and fired a missile to the plate. The throw beat Uribe, but his thick thighs knocked it out of catcher Chris Iannetta’s mit. Uribe scores. Game over. The crowd goes wild.
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“I waited for the crowd to react and they did,” Ethier said, with an embarassed chuckle. “It’s not the prettiest out of all of them, but it feels just as good.”
Ethier hasn’t seen much of the field lately and seemed reserved in relishing the moment.
Dodger starter Clayton Kershaw avoided a loss with the last inning theatrics. The lefty didn’t factor in the decision, and hasn’t lost since May 28, spanning 12 outings.
He went seven innings but actually looked human at the start.
The Angels jumped on Kershaw early, scoring three runs on seven hits the first three innings. He settled down after that. In his last four innings, Kershaw didn’t allow a hit, though he walked two batters.
“He didn’t seem to be in the kind of rhythm he’s normally in the first two or three innings. Then, all of a sudden, something must’ve fell in place for him because it got more smoother and easier,” Dodger manager Don Mattingly said afterward.
In his much publicized matchup with all-world Mike Trout, you’d have to say Trout won on the scorecards.
Trout got the first jabs in, hitting a single and double off Kershaw his first two at bats. But, the lefty hit back in Trout’s third at bat, throwing three straight fastballs. Trout watched them all and just as fast as he was announced as the hitter, he walked back to the dugout with a strikeout.
Matt Kemp manufactured a run in the sixth to put the Dodgers up, 4-3. He reached on an error, stole second, went to third on a throwing error and scored on Scott Van Slyke’s sacrifice fly.
But, that was wiped out by one swing of the bat by Albert Pujols. He launched a Brian Wilson fastball into the Dodgers bullpen in left field for a home run that tied the game, 4-4.
Angels started Hector Santiago looked just as shaky as Kershaw the first few innings. His biggest mistake was the fastball that Uribe hit out to left for a three-run homer in the third. But, they would be the only runs the 26-year-old surrendered in his 5 ⅓ innings of work.
Kenley Jansen (2-3) hurled a scoreless ninth for the Dodgers to pick up the loss.
Kevin Jepson (0-1) suffered the loss for the Angels.
The two teams will wrap up the Freeway Series with two games at Angels Stadium.
