Its not fair to expect magical things from Andre Ethier every time he bats in the late innings, but he just keeps delivering! Ethier ended tonight's game by depositing a Phil Dumatrait fastball over the wall in right field, turning a 4-3, 13th inning deficit into a thrilling, 5-4 Dodger victory.
Ethier also came up big in the ninth inning, doubling with one out with the Dodgers down 3-2. A Matt Kemp single tied the game and sent it into extra innings. But the story was his sixth walk-off hit of the season, and fourth walk-off home run. The Dodgers as a team have 12 walk-off wins this season.
Ethier's home run was his 30th of the season, and his ninth inning double was his 40th of the season. He is just the fourth Dodger in history to have 40 doubles and 30 home runs in the same season:
| Player | Year | 2B | HR |
| Babe Herman | 1930 | 48 | 35 |
| Raul Mondesi | 1997 | 42 | 30 |
| Eric Karros | 1999 | 40 | 34 |
| Andre Ethier | 2009 | 40 | 30 |
Lost in the Andre Ethier show were these subplots of tonight's game:
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Randy Wolf came back from a hyper-extended left elbow to pitch seven strong innings, allowing just three runs, gladly picking up his 15th no-decision, tied for the MLB lead
- Zach Duke was even better for the Pirates, allowing two runs and four hits over 7.1 innings while striking out seven
- Ramon Troncoso and George Sherrill combined for a perfect eighth inning, and were followed by another perfect inning from Jonathan Broxton, who struck out the side
- James McDonald pitched three scoreless innings, his longest relief outing of the season. McDonald has a 2.40 ERA as a reliever with 42 strikeouts in 45 innings.
The players get right back at it tomorrow for an early 12:10pm start. Hiroki Kuroda will face Kevin Hart, on Manny Ramirez bobblehead day part deux. Joe Torre said in the pregame show that Russell Martin, Casey Blake, and Rafael Furcal were all likely to rest Wednesday.
Oh yeah, the Rockies lost to the Giants again, pushing the Dodgers' division lead back to five games over Colorado.
Magic Numbers
To win NL West: 11
To clinch a playoff spot: 10
WP - Ronald Belisario (4-3): 1 IP, 1 hit, 1 unearned run, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts
LP - Phil Dumatrait (0-1): 1 batter, 1 home run