Dodgers beat Diamondbacks 9-7 in 11th on Chris Young’s RBI single
By APThursday, April 15, 2010
Dodgers beat Diamondbacks 9-7 in 11
LOS ANGELES — Chris Young hit a go-ahead RBI single with the bases loaded in the 11th inning, Justin Upton and Stephen Drew homered, and the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 9-7 Wednesday night.
Matt Kemp homered for the third time in four games and drove in three runs for the Dodgers in a game that ended took 4 hours, 57 minutes to complete. Each team used eight pitchers.
Drew greeted Russ Ortiz (0-1) with a leadoff single in the 11th before the right-hander walked Adam LaRoche with one out and game up a bloop single to center by Mark Reynolds that loaded the bases. Young hit a 1-0 pitch to left field to put the Diamondbacks ahead, and Augie Ojeda followed with a sacrifice fly.
Leo Rosales (1-0) allowed one hit over two innings to get the victory.
Dodgers manager Joe Torre decided to rest workhorse Jeff Weaver, who had pitched in six of the first seven games, and Ortiz was the only other reliever available at that point.
Dodgers rookie Carlos Monasterios came in to start the seventh and Upton drove the right-hander’s second pitch to dead center for his second homer of the season, giving Arizona a 7-6 lead.
But Chad Qualls couldn’t nail it down in the ninth.
Manny Ramirez, who was 3 for 3 with a sacrifice fly, hit a leadoff double and Casey Blake drove in pinch-runner Jamey Carroll with a double to left-center that Young made a valiant attempt to catch at the top of the fence.
Qualls retired pinch-hitter Reed Johnson with runners at the corners, sending it to extras just as the game reached the 4-hour mark.
Arizona took a 6-5 lead in the sixth on Conor Jackson’s RBI double inside third base after a double by Kelly Johnson and a two-out intentional walk to Gerardo Parra, who pinch-hit for starting pitcher Rodrigo Lopez.
The Dodgers tied it at 6 in the bottom half sixth on Kemp’s sacrifice fly to right. They loaded the bases later in the inning, but Bob Howry relieved Jordan Norberto with two out and retired Blake on a foul pop.
Arizona made it 5-5 in the fifth on a two-run single by LaRoche, after Chad Billingsley walked Drew with two out and Upton doubled over Ramirez’s head in left field.
The bottom of the fourth was delayed several minutes while the grounds crew tried to figure out a way to keep the second base bag stationary. Whether the wait had an effect on Lopez was unclear, but Russell Martin drove the second pitch of the inning off the fence in right-center for a double and Kemp homered with two out to give the Dodgers a 5-3 lead.
Billingsley allowed six runs, eight hits in 5 2-3 innings and struck out five. Lopez gave up five runs and 11 hits over five innings.
NOTES: Former Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda and wife Jo were at the ballpark celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary. … The Dodgers have split their first two home games. Last year, they won their first 13 at Chavez Ravine to set a modern major league record for consecutive home wins to start a season. … Qualls blew five of 29 save opportunities last season. … Kelly Johnson left the game in the sixth because of back stiffness.
