An ill win blows the Dodgers’ way in San Diego
Reporting from San Diego — This wasn’t quite Kirk Gibson hobbling to the plate, the stage not as grand, the ailment not as severe.
But when Andre Ethier was sent to pinch-hit at Petco Park on Tuesday night, he was said to be feeling weak, infected with the same stomach virus that shelved Jonathan Broxton and Brad Ausmus in recent days.
And Mr. Clutch delivered.
In what was arguably the Dodgers’ most important game of the season to date, Ethier’s two-run single with the bases loaded and two out in the seventh inning was the difference in a 2-0 victory over the first-place San Diego Padres
The Padres’ NL West lead over the third-place Dodgers, six games at the start of the game, was cut to five. The Dodgers improved to 25-8 within their division, including 5-1 against the Padres, whom they will face six more times over the next nine days.
Ethier didn’t remain in the clubhouse long enough to speak to reporters; he was believed to be back in his hotel room recuperating from an illness that struck him the previous night.
“He’s a clutch hitter, man,” Matt Kemp said. “He came through when we needed it. That’s what he does.”
Manager Joe Torre said Ethier initially tried to convince him to leave him in the lineup.
Because of the shortage of position players on the bench — the Dodgers have 13 pitchers on their roster — Torre explained to Ethier that he didn’t want him to start, only to have to be removed in the middle of the game.
Ethier’s latest late-game dramatics, which broke a scoreless stalemate, were set up by a curious sequence of moves by Padres Manager Bud Black.
Black was called to the mound by pitcher Jon Garland after Garret Anderson singled to put men on the corners with two outs. In the huddle, it was evidently decided that Garland should intentionally walk Russell Martin to load the bases and force Dodgers starter Chad Billingsley out of the game.
The objective was met.
The only problem for the Padres was that Ethier, who was a late scratch from the lineup, was available to hit.
While trainer Stan Conte had told Torre that Ethier wasn’t feeling well in the early innings, the All-Star right fielder emerged from the trainer’s room and took a seat in the dugout in the middle innings.
With Ethier at the plate, Black made his second questionable move of the inning, electing to let the right-handed Garland pitch to him instead of the calling in left-hander Joe Thatcher, who was warming up in the bullpen.
Ethier entered the game hitting .329 against right-handers and .234 against left-handers.
Ethier slapped a 1-1 fastball into center field, driving in Blake DeWitt and Anderson.
Making a reference to how a tightly-wound Ethier had hit .132 in his first 11 games after the All-Star break, Torre said, “Sometimes when you’re under the weather, it keeps you from getting too amped up.”
Hong-Chih Kuo pitched two scoreless innings to set up Broxton, who closed the game by striking out postseason nemesis Matt Stairs.
Billingsley’s six scoreless innings followed his shutout of the San Francisco Giants six days earlier. His performance Tuesday lowered the earned-run average of the Dodgers’ starters to 1.09 over the last 10 games.
“Guys feed off each other,” Billingsley said. “Pitching’s contagious. Hitting’s contagious. It’s kind of fun.”
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