The Dodgers took the final game of the series with the Cardinals today to avoid the sweep with a walk-off RBI-single by Andre Ethier in the bottom of the tenth.
The Cards scored one in the first but the Dodgers answered back with one of their own in the bottom half of the inning when Luis Maza, playing second in place of Jeff Kent, hit a solo homerun. The Dodgers then took a 2-1 lead in the fourth when Russell Martin drove an RBI-double to score Ethier from first. The Cards tied it up in the sixth but Martin again gave the Dodgers a one-run lead when he got a two-out RBI-single to score Juan Pierre who had also singled. The Cardinals tied it again in the seventh but the Dodgers came out on top in the tenth with Ethier’s walk off single to score Pierre.
Let’s not let Ethier’s walk-off hit overshadow the outstanding performance of Clayton Kershaw in his MLB debut. He held the Cards to two runs off five hits with seven K’s in six innings. He left after six to get the no-decision, but his outing is good news for the Dodgers who will keep Kershaw in the rotation for his next start on Friday against the Mets. Wade and Beimel threw a few pitches before yielding to Broxton, who got the blow save when he gave up a run in the seventh. Saito pitched two scoreless innings. with a total of five K’s, to get his third win of the season.
The Dodgers leave LA and head out to Chicago for a three game series with the Cubs. Chad Billingsley will go for his fifth win against Ryan Dempster, who stands at 5-2 with a 2.70 ERA. The Memorial Day game will be an early start for the West Coast, 11:20am.
