Dodgers Walk Off On Rival Giants in 14 Innings 5-4

Adrian Gonzalez hit a walk off fly ball to left field and the Los Angeles Dodgers came from behind to defeat the rival San Francisco Giants at Chavez Ravine.

In a game that started in August and ended in September, the Los Angeles Dodgers truly earned their biggest win of the season.

For thousands of fans that stayed at Dodger Stadium for a game that lasted five hours and thirty minutes, they were rewarded with the team's eighth walk-off win of the year and it couldn't have come at a more crucial time.

At exactly 12:40 AM PST on Tuesday, September 1st, Adrian Gonzalez blasted a bases loaded, fly ball, single to left field and the Los Angeles Dodgers came from behind to defeat the rival San Francisco Giants 5-4 at Chavez Ravine.

"This was a great win," Gonzalez said. "You knew this game was coming down to the end, we had to have two pitchers hit, your body gets tired, but we just kept playing."

One night after being no-hit by Chicago Cubs starter Jake Arrieta, the Dodgers offense began the marathon game with a milestone hit on the first batter of the game.

Jimmy Rollins led off LA's half of the first with a single, and scored three batters later on a Justin Turner double to the gap.

The Giants would counter with three runs in the third off Brett Anderson. Anderson served up four singles and a walk before shortstop Brandon Crawford grounded back to the mound to end the inning.

"This was probably the most frustrating game I ever pitched," Anderson said. "I live or die by the groundball and I died by it today."

Anderson allowed three runs on six hits in five innings, but did not factor in the decision. The lefty has been durable for the Dodgers this season, allowing three runs or fewer in 13 of his last 14 starts.

"I had enough down time in this long game that I was able to change, ice, and return to the dugout," Anderson said of the marathon game. "Hopefully this win can catapult us to finish strong down to the end of the season."

San Francisco starter Jake Peavy found his pace after the paltry opening. Peavy retired 12 of the next 13 batters he faced before running into trouble in the bottom of the sixth inning.

The Dodgers got off the mat and tagged Peavy for three runs thanks to homers by Adrian Gonzalez and Andre Ethier.

Gonzalez jumped on top of a 91 MPH fastball that he crushed into centerfield for his 25th home run of the season.

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"Peavy threw the ball great, but I was able to get to a fastball there," Gonzalez said. "After I hit the home run, it got our confidence up and we felt pretty good about ourselves the rest of the game."

Two batters later, Ethier connected on a curveball that just sailed over the glove of Marlon Byrd and into the Giants' bullpen giving the Dodgers the 4-3 lead.

"Peavy left that one up, and I was just able to pop it over the fence there and bring the momentum our way," Ethier said of his home run. "It doesn't matter how, or what we do, it's just about winning games at this point of the year."

Ethier and Gonzalez were a combined 10 for 57 against Peavy before their at-bats in the sixth inning.

Peavy, who has only lost once at Dodger Stadium in his 13-year career, allowed four runs on six hits in 5.2 innings in just his 13th start of the season.

Juan Nicasio coughed the game up in the top of the eighth inning when Marlon Byrd drove a double down the right field line with two outs in the inning.

The bullpen would battle back though. Luis Avilan, Jim Johnson, and Chris Hatcher combined for six scoreless innings down the stretch to keep the Dodgers in the ballgame.

"That was a big one," An exhausted Hatcher said after the game. "That's probably our biggest win of the season. To keep us in the ballgame like that, that was huge for our team."

The war of attrition ended in the bottom half of the 14th inning when the Giants were forced to bring in reliever Mike Broadway in from the bullpen after burning through most of their better arms.

After a leadoff walk to A.J. Ellis, Broadway gave up back-to-back singles to former Phillies Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley before he was lifted from the game for Yusmeiro Petit.

"I was terrified because I'm slow," Ellis said of he leadoff walk. "I set the table and the two Los Angeles Phillies came up behind me and when we set the table for Gonzo, we knew we were going to find a way to break through."

Gonzalez was looking for a ball up in the zone he could drive to the outfield and he got it on the first pitch he saw from Petit, an 82MPH change up he drove in to left field for the game winning, walk-off single.

"I just wanted to hit something in the air," Gonzalez said of the at-bat. "Petit is a high ball pitcher. I was looking for something up and that was the winning mentality."

With the victory, the Dodgers increase their lead to 4.5 games over their rivals in the NL West and move to a season-high 16 games over .500.

Questionable Call:

With two outs in the bottom of the ninth and Jose Peraza on third, Giants reliever, Sergio Romo, appeared to have balked while facing Jimmy Rollins at the plate.

Rollins immediately pointed to the mound, asking home plate umpire Marty Foster to call the balk and end the game. Foster did not make the call and instead told Rollins to get back in the box. Replays would later show that Romo did indeed balk.

Game Notes:
The 5-hours, and 29 minute game was the ninth longest in Dodgers history. It was the longest game since a 14-inning game on Sept. 3 of last season against the Washington Nationals. It is the longest game between the NL West rivals since May 2, 1995 when they played 15 innings at Candlestick Park.

During the game, the Dodgers acquired minor league outfielder Justin Ruggiano from the Seattle Mariners in exchange for a player to be named later or cash considerations.

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