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Bench Warmer
The Los Angeles Dodgers look like a team trying to walk off with their second straight NL West title.
Andre Ethier hit a bases-loaded RBI single in the 10th inning, giving the Dodgers a 2-1 victory over the San Diego Padres on Saturday night and their second straight walkoff victory. They won 1-0 Friday night on a bases-loaded walk to Russell Martin in the ninth.
The Dodgers are 9-0 at home, tying the franchise record set in 1946 in Brooklyn.
"I want to make it 10-0," manager Joe Torre said. "You get greedy when you play well and get results. Most clubs would like to believe they're comfortable at home, and it's someplace you should win. The more you win someplace, the more confidence you have. A big part of it is the crowd, and the fact that you hit last in close games.
"But every time we go on the field, we want to win. And whatever that number is, it is. Hopefully we can extend this thing. We're feeling pretty good about ourselves right now," Torre added.
Rafael Furcal led off the 10th with a single against rookie Luke Gregerson (0-2) and Orlando Hudson followed with a sharp single through the box, putting runners at the corners. Manny Ramirez was walked intentionally, and Ethier drove a 2-1 pitch off the right field fence to hand Gregerson his second loss in three nights.
"These last two games have been pitchers duels, so we just had to win them in the late innings and we came through again tonight," center fielder Matt Kemp said. "Our confidence level is real high at this point. Anybody in our lineup can go out there and get the job done."
Guillermo Mota (2-0) pitched one inning for the victory, helping send the Padres to their sixth straight loss and 10th in 12 games after a 9-3 start.
For the third time in this four-game series, neither starting pitcher got a decision. San Diego's Chris Young allowed a run and six hits over seven innings and struck out five, continuing a quirky trend in which he's had one great outing after an extremely poor one.
"I don't put much into it," Young said tersely. "If we continue to pitch that well over the course of the season, I think we'll win the majority of these games. It seems like when we hit, we don't seem to pitch well. When we pitch well, we don't seem to score enough runs."
Randy Wolf threw 103 pitches over 5 1-3 innings, allowing one run and two hits including a first-inning home run by Edgar Gonzalez. But he gave up four walks, after allowing just eight over 31 1-3 innings in his other five starts.
Wolf's back-to-back walks to Nick Hundley and Luis Rodriguez in the fifth ended the left-hander's string of 46 consecutive batters without a base on balls -- in addition to a stretch in which he walked only one of 77 batters. But Hundley and Rodriguez were stranded when right fielder Ethier raced toward the alley to grab Young's line drive.
The Dodgers, whose season-opening streak of 23 games with an extra-base hit ended with Friday night's 1-0 win, tied the score 1-all in the third when Wolf doubled inside first base and scored on Furcal's single.
"I wish I could have that pitch back to Wolf," Young said. "I just missed my spot a little bit with the fastball and pulled it, and he hit it down the line. When you look at it, it ended up costing us the game."
Andre Ethier hit a bases-loaded RBI single in the 10th inning, giving the Dodgers a 2-1 victory over the San Diego Padres on Saturday night and their second straight walkoff victory. They won 1-0 Friday night on a bases-loaded walk to Russell Martin in the ninth.
The Dodgers are 9-0 at home, tying the franchise record set in 1946 in Brooklyn.
"I want to make it 10-0," manager Joe Torre said. "You get greedy when you play well and get results. Most clubs would like to believe they're comfortable at home, and it's someplace you should win. The more you win someplace, the more confidence you have. A big part of it is the crowd, and the fact that you hit last in close games.
"But every time we go on the field, we want to win. And whatever that number is, it is. Hopefully we can extend this thing. We're feeling pretty good about ourselves right now," Torre added.
Rafael Furcal led off the 10th with a single against rookie Luke Gregerson (0-2) and Orlando Hudson followed with a sharp single through the box, putting runners at the corners. Manny Ramirez was walked intentionally, and Ethier drove a 2-1 pitch off the right field fence to hand Gregerson his second loss in three nights.
"These last two games have been pitchers duels, so we just had to win them in the late innings and we came through again tonight," center fielder Matt Kemp said. "Our confidence level is real high at this point. Anybody in our lineup can go out there and get the job done."
Guillermo Mota (2-0) pitched one inning for the victory, helping send the Padres to their sixth straight loss and 10th in 12 games after a 9-3 start.
For the third time in this four-game series, neither starting pitcher got a decision. San Diego's Chris Young allowed a run and six hits over seven innings and struck out five, continuing a quirky trend in which he's had one great outing after an extremely poor one.
"I don't put much into it," Young said tersely. "If we continue to pitch that well over the course of the season, I think we'll win the majority of these games. It seems like when we hit, we don't seem to pitch well. When we pitch well, we don't seem to score enough runs."
Randy Wolf threw 103 pitches over 5 1-3 innings, allowing one run and two hits including a first-inning home run by Edgar Gonzalez. But he gave up four walks, after allowing just eight over 31 1-3 innings in his other five starts.
Wolf's back-to-back walks to Nick Hundley and Luis Rodriguez in the fifth ended the left-hander's string of 46 consecutive batters without a base on balls -- in addition to a stretch in which he walked only one of 77 batters. But Hundley and Rodriguez were stranded when right fielder Ethier raced toward the alley to grab Young's line drive.
The Dodgers, whose season-opening streak of 23 games with an extra-base hit ended with Friday night's 1-0 win, tied the score 1-all in the third when Wolf doubled inside first base and scored on Furcal's single.
"I wish I could have that pitch back to Wolf," Young said. "I just missed my spot a little bit with the fastball and pulled it, and he hit it down the line. When you look at it, it ended up costing us the game."
