LOS ANGELES -- In the eighth inning of what would become a 5-2 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Saturday night, Los Angeles Dodgers rookie outfielder Joc Pederson drove a changeup deep into the gap in left-center. It was a shot with promise, but it ultimately died in the glove of Diamondbacks left fielder Nolan Reimold maybe five feet short of paydirt.
The crowd of more than 50,000 packed into Dodger Stadium rose at contact and sustained much of the energy even after the ball was caught. Some behind the Dodgers' dugout even stood in applause for the kid.
Maybe it's because Pederson has struggled since he came up from Triple-A Albuquerque when rosters expanded at the beginning of the month, and he barely missed what would have been his first big-league homer. Maybe they appreciated this important piece of the team's future taking a pitch the other way.
Or maybe they had been sitting on their hands for 90 minutes and thought Pederson's near homer might be as close to a scoring burst as the Dodgers would get. After a first-inning bomb from Adrian Gonzalez staked them to an early 2-0 lead, between the second and seventh innings L.A. managed only one hit -- an infield single from Dee Gordon.
More than anything, the bottom of the eighth illustrated the thin margins within which the Dodgers operate. It started with another infield single, this time from Juan Uribe on a ball that, had it been fielded cleanly by Arizona shortstop Cliff Pennington, might have been an out. The Dodgers caught another break when Diamondbacks third baseman Aaron Hill went for the lead runner on pinch hitter Justin Turner's slow roller. Roger Bernadina, pinch running for Uribe, beat the throw easily, and instead of a man on second with two out, the Dodgers had runners at first and second and an extra out with which to play.
What started with good fortune ended with good play. Gordon fought through a nine-pitch at-bat off Arizona reliever Daniel Hudson before ripping the ball up the middle, scoring Bernadina and giving the Dodgers a 3-2 lead. Hanley Ramirez followed with a two-run double, and the Dodgers had their cushion. On the one hand, they came through in the clutch and preserved a two-game edge on San Francisco in the NL West. On the other, the Dodgers required help to create the inning, and in between they put their customary pressure on their arms.
That the Dodgers are built around starting pitching is no secret. That they are so dependent on it -- more so than any other playoff hopeful in the National League is dependent on any single part of its roster -- is concerning. For six innings, Dodgers starter Hyun-Jin Ryu kept Arizona off the board. In the seventh, the Diamondbacks finally broke through and ended Ryu's night with him having given up only two runs over 6 2/3 innings but with no chance at the win. Eventually manager Don Mattingly deployed Kenley Jansen for the ninth, and he earned his 41st save in 45 tries. In between, though, Mattingly had to navigate the rickety rope bridge that is the rest of L.A.'s bullpen, save J.P. Howell and the emerging Pedro Baez.
For most of the game, the Dodgers' offense produced nothing, which has too often been a theme, despite a lineup of big names and bigger contracts.
For Gordon, who's on-base percentage had slipped from a high water mark of .351 on July 6 to .322 entering Saturday's game, coming through in such a key moment was significant.
"It's getting late, and we needed it," he said. "It's my job, and I work hard at it every day."
He admitted maintaining a consistent approach as games grow in importance has been tough.
"It was a little bit," he said. "That's part [of it] for anybody. It was, but I'm glad I stuck to it."
(From Gordon, who would put a Rita Hayworth poster in the back of his locker and tunnel out of the clubhouse Shawshank Redemption-style before meeting the media if he could, this qualifies as ebullience.)
It was Gordon's third hit of the night. From there, he outran what might otherwise have been a fan-interference call on the Ramirez double, when it was ruled he would have scored despite the overzealous meddling from a paying customer against the left-field wall. He made a nice play in the ninth to help stifle early signs of an Arizona rally. Basically, Gordon spent Saturday looking every bit the All-Star he has been all year.
What they need now is more nights like his from more guys more consistently. Their frontline starters don't need much, but they do need something.
