Carl Crawford should have some nice birthday presents coming from Brian Wilson and Chris Perez.
The veteran hit a two-run home run in the top of the 11th inning in the Dodgers 9-7 win Saturday night over the Miami Marlins.
“I was in a 2-0 count last night and I said if I get in the same situation tonight I’ll let the bat fly, and I caught that one tonight,” Crawford said after the game.
He’s a career .290 hitter, but this year he’s struggled in limited playing time batting just .195.
Wilson was given the ball in the seventh inning with a 7-3 lead. He only lasted ⅔ of an inning after giving up a three-run homer to Marcell Ozuna. J.P. Howell came in to get the last out.
Chris Perez blew the save in the bottom of the ninth when he walked Jarrod Saltalamacchia with the bases loaded to tie the game 7-7. That was after Chris Withrow got out of a bases loaded jam in the eighth inning by striking out Giancarlo Stanton.
Crawford bailed Wilson and Perez out with the game-winning home run off of Carlos Marmol (0-2) who took the loss.
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Brandon League (1-1) pitched two innings for the win.
The extra-inning theatrics overshadowed the performance by Dee Gordon.
The Dodgers shortstop had a career high five hits, he scored two runs, drove in two runs, stole three bases, and made a dazzling defensive play that potentially saved a run.
Gordon raised his batting average to .357, good for third in the National League, and his 19 steals leads the majors.
Yasiel Puig, who makes his off-season home in Miami, electrified the crowd by hitting a three-run homer that landed in the second tier of crowd seats near the 427 feet sign in left-center field.
“I don’t know whether I feel more comfortable in California or here where there are more Cubans and more people of Latin descent,” Puig said. “I was able to get the home run and another hit tonight and it feels good.”
Puig is 11 for 23 with seven RBIs in his last five games.
Ozuna was one of five Marlins with at least two hits. Their starter Jacob Turner only went four innings. He allowed six runs on nine hits.
