Dodgers kept everyone up late

Some players called it destiny. Others said it was the result of Manager Joe Torre’s pounding into their heads the cliche about playing all 27 outs.

Torre had another word for it: luck.

“That stuff is lucky,” Torre said of the line drive by James Loney that was dropped by Cardinals left fielder Matt Holliday with two out in the ninth inning of Game 2 in their National League division series.

The error sparked a two-run rally for the Dodgers, who erased a 2-1 deficit to win, 3-2, and went on to sweep a Cardinals team that looked during Saturday’s Game 3 as if it still hadn’t recovered from Thursday’s collapse.

“But,” Torre said, “you make your own luck.”

That was what his players said.

“We never put our heads down,” Rafael Furcal said.

The Game 2 comeback was one of many dramatic moments in the late innings this season for the Dodgers, who led the NL and were third in the majors with 12 walk-off victories. They were 20-8 in one-run games at Dodger Stadium during the regular season. They won eight games when trailing after seven innings, five when trailing after eight.

Here are 15 of their most memorable late-game moments:

15. Dodgers 4, Rockies 2, June 29 at Dodger Stadium -- Priding themselves on their ability to stop losing streaks, the Dodgers were able to prevent their first three-game skid of the season because of a 13th-inning, two-run walk-off home run by Andre Ethier. The Dodgers finished the season with only four losing streaks of three games or longer.

14. Dodgers 12, Brewers 8, July 10 at Milwaukee -- Matt Kemp’s grand slam in the 10th inning earned the Dodgers the win in the opening game of their final series before the All-Star break. Kemp made a basket catch at the center-field wall in the bottom of that inning to preserve the win. Mark Loretta’s ninth-inning single against all-time saves leader Trevor Hoffman had sent the game into extra innings.

Kemp’s 10 extra-inning runs batted in were the most in baseball since Juan Gonzalez had 11 in 1991.

13. Dodgers 5, Cardinals 3, July 30 at St. Louis -- Outclassed by the Cardinals in the first three games of a series at Busch Stadium, the Dodgers ended what was then a season-high four-game losing streak on a two-run bloop single by Kemp in the 10th.

The Dodgers left St. Louis thinking they would meet the Cardinals in the playoffs. “It made us realize what type of team we’re going to have to beat in October,” Russell Martin said.

12. Dodgers 5, Diamondbacks 4, Sept. 8 at Arizona -- The Dodgers preserved a 3 1/2 -game NL West lead over Colorado by scoring four runs in the eighth, the last driven in on an infield hit by August acquisition Ronnie Belliard.

11. Dodgers 5, Pirates 4, Sept. 15 at Dodger Stadium -- The Dodgers didn’t have much magic during the regular-season stretch run, but this extra-inning victory was an exception. Ethier scored the tying run in the ninth inning on a single by Kemp and hit a two-run home run in the 13th to win it. Ethier had six walk-off hits this season, including four homers.

10. Dodgers 3, Diamondbacks 1, April 12 at Arizona -- The moment didn’t take place in the late innings but was arguably the most bizarre of the season. Alerted by bench coach Bob Schaefer about a little-known “four-out” rule, Torre essentially argued in the tying run in the second inning.

With Ethier at third and Juan Pierre on second, Randy Wolf lined out to pitcher Dan Haren, who threw the ball to Felipe Lopez to record the third out. But instead of touching second base, Lopez went to tag Pierre. Bad choice. Pierre, caught between second and third, had stopped in his tracks. In the time it took Lopez to apply the tag, Ethier had crossed the plate, Torre argued. Torre prevailed.

9. Dodgers 3, Rockies 2, Aug. 27 at Colorado -- Looking nothing like the All-Star he used to be, Furcal waited for his big moment. He got it in the final game of a crucial series in Denver, driving in the deciding run with a sixth-inning single. Furcal went on to hit .330 in September and .500 in the division series.

8. Dodgers 5, Braves 4, Aug. 6 at Dodger Stadium -- The game was mostly frustrating, as Manny Ramirez and Kemp struck out with men in scoring position to end the seventh and eighth innings, respectively. Ethier made up for it with a three-run, walk-off home run in the ninth.

7. Dodgers 6, Diamondbacks 5, June 2 at Dodger Stadium -- The Dodgers looked as if they had no chance, trailing, 5-1, after being held to one run in seven innings by Haren. But they pounced on the Arizona bullpen in a five-run eighth inning that was highlighted by Loney’s three-run double. The four-run deficit was the largest the Dodgers overcame this season.

6. Dodgers 3, Mets 2, May 18 at Dodger Stadium -- Holliday’s error was far from the first (or worst) mistake the Dodgers took advantage of this season. Ryan Church of the Mets appeared to score the go-ahead run in the top of the 11th but missed third base and was called out. The Mets then made two defensive errors in the bottom of the inning, the second a wild throw by first baseman Jeremy Reed to let Loretta score the winning run.

5. Dodgers 6, Rockies 5, April 25 at Colorado -- This was the day Torre said Ramon Troncoso would never again have to prove that he belonged in the major leagues. With the bullpen taxed, Torre turned to the second-year right-hander, who pitched four scoreless innings to record a save in hitter-friendly Coors Field.

4. Dodgers 5, Giants 4, April 15 at Dodger Stadium -- Loney pushed in the Dodgers’ first run of the game with a bases-loaded walk in the first inning. And he ended the game with a bases-loaded walk-off walk in the ninth.

3. Dodgers 7, Padres 6, July 5 at San Diego -- The Dodgers blew a five-run lead in the ninth inning, closer Jonathan Broxton wasting a strong effort by Chad Billingsley, who took a two-hitter into the ninth. But Ronald Belisario, Guillermo Mota, Brent Leach and Jeff Weaver combined to pitch four shutout innings to set up a solo home run by Loney in the 13th to win the game.

2. Dodgers 6, Reds 2, July 22 at Dodger Stadium -- The home crowd was never louder this season than it was on this night. Ramirez was out of the lineup on his bobblehead night because he’d been struck in the hand by a fastball in the previous game. But with the bases loaded and the score tied, 2-2, Ramirez came up as a pinch hitter in the sixth inning and blasted the only pitch thrown to him for a grand slam.

1. Dodgers 3, Phillies 2, June 6 at Dodger Stadium -- With Ramirez serving his 50-game suspension, Ethier was called upon by Torre to be the middle-of-the-lineup run producer. He became a dependable late-inning threat as well. One night after Ethier hit a walk-off double against Phillies closer Brad Lidge, Furcal extended this game by tagging Lidge for a tying solo shot in the ninth. Ethier then delivered his second walk-off hit in as many days, a solo homer in the 12th. The Dodgers were 4-3 against the Phillies this season.

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dylan.hernandez@latimes.com

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NLCS

DODGERS VS. PHILLIES

Game 1: Thursday at Dodgers

5 p.m., TBS