Well, a million hours and seven Dodgers pitchers later, the Dodgers crowd got the biggest reward of the year when Eric Gagne burst out of the bullpen to the throbbing music of 'Welcome to the Jungle'. I'm an A's fan and I got chills. What a wonderful reception the Dodgers crowd gave its returning hero.
Good evening, baseballgirl here. I'm glad you all stopped by. Why, no one's here? Huh. There's a ton of people over at Athletics Nation (my home) and the A's are...how shall we put this...on the struggle bus. Well, I say that tongue-in-cheek. They faced Santana; what do you expect?
By the way, Milton Bradley is coming back eventually, they tell us. Which is great, because then I can stop missing Andre Ethier. Funny story about Nicks. When he first posted a poll about which player from an off-season trade would be the best, I chose Andre Ethier without even looking at the other choices, and he laughed at me. I was like, "What? You'll love him."
Tell me you don't.
Okay, after a seventh inning meltdown, which saw the Dodgers go from a 5-3 lead to an 8-5 deficit (hmmm...that seems familiar to me), the Dodgers could not muster enough offense to counteract the five-run inning. But Andre Ethier can apparently play defense too. Don't worry. It will be worth it when Milton Bradley comes back. <repeats mantra over and over again in the mirror>
But did you see Frank Thomas? Didya'? Didya'?
Gagne's line: 19 pitches in the 9th inning. Retired the first two, struck a batter, and walked one before getting the final out of the ninth. Popup, strike-out, ground-out.
Final score 8-6. The Dodgers did all you can do in a losing effort; which is to get the tying run to the plate. Bonus points if it's Nomar. Who singled to put the tying runs on base and the winning run to the plate in the person of Joel Guzman, the rookie with the mostest. Where are you guys getting these rookies? Oh wait. That rookie grounded into a game-ending DP, breaking the Dodgers' seven-game home winning streak.
Yes, the Dodgers lost, but no one noticed, trust me. Because...
GAGNE IS BACK!