The improbable happens in Kirk Gibson’s managerial debut as Arizona routs Dodgers, 12-5
Reporting from Phoenix — Kirk Gibson performed another miracle Friday night.
He got the Arizona Diamondbacks to win a game.
OK, so maybe this didn’t equal hitting the most famous home run in Dodgers history, but it was something, as Gibson guided his last-place club to a 12-5 victory over the Dodgers at Chase Field in his first game as the Diamondbacks’ interim manager.
Gibson’s victorious debut fell on a day the Dodgers learned they would be without Manny Ramirez through the All-Star break, as they made plans to place him on the 15-day disabled list Saturday. The move was confirmed by three baseball sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity because it wasn’t yet official.
Ramirez will be replaced on the active roster by Xavier Paul, who will be recalled from triple-A Albuquerque.
News of Ramirez’s situation capped a rough day for the Dodgers.
Starter Hiroki Kuroda, who was recently praised by Manager Joe Torre for his consistency, had his worst start of the season, as he was battered by Gibson’s Diamondbacks for six runs and eight hits over 1 2/3 innings, his worst start of the season.
Kuroda threw 41 pitches in a four-hit, two-walk first inning in which the Diamondbacks took a 3-0 lead. When Mark Reynolds singled to center field in the second inning to drive in Miguel Montero to put the Diamondbacks ahead, 6-2, Torre decided he had seen enough.
“I wasn’t able to throw my splitter the way I wanted,” Kuroda said. “My slider was breaking too quickly.”
Kuroda knew what was coming, meeting Torre halfway down the left side of the mound to hand him the ball.
“It looked like he was decent with his fastball,” Torre said. “Any time he tried to throw anything other than a fastball, he couldn’t throw it where he wanted.”
Kuroda’s replacement, Jeff Weaver, gave up three runs in 1 1/3 innings. The Dodgers were behind, 9-3, at the end of three innings.
“Three, three, three in the first three innings, that’s tough to overcome,” Torre said.
Diamondbacks starter Edwin Jackson, a week removed from throwing a no-hitter that required 149 pitches, wasn’t particularly sharp, the former Dodger allowing four runs and seven hits in five innings.
“We certainly had opportunities to score,” Torre said. “We just couldn’t keep them from scoring.”
The Dodgers finished the game with 12 hits, three each from Andre Ethier and James Loney.
In a pregame news conference, Gibson wouldn’t say whether he agreed with previous manager A.J. Hinch’s decision to let Jackson finish that game in Tampa.
But Gibson turned a potentially uncomfortable moment into a light one, saying, “We can say he’s in shape to go 150 [pitches] tonight. We stretched him out good, didn’t we?”
The assembled press corps laughed.
Gibson’s news conference was the last of three held Friday by the Diamondbacks, who fired Hinch and general manager Josh Byrnes the previous night.
Gibson was promoted from his old position of bench coach.
For the former Dodger and 1988 National League most valuable player, the day would end as one of the most memorable of his baseball life.
“I felt it was like my first major league game again,” Gibson said. “I don’t know how many people get to have that feeling. It was, like, euphoric.”
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