azdad1978
Championship!!!!
Lyon gives up 4 in 9th, blows 3-run lead
Bob McManaman
The Arizona Republic
Apr. 9, 2005 12:00 AM
It was in the bag. Now it's in the trash.
The Diamondbacks had a three-run lead Friday night on the Dodgers at Bank One Ballpark and were three outs from winning their third straight game.
But it all fell apart under some strange situations and the Dodgers pulled it out in the end, claiming an 8-7 victory in front of a crowd of 25,813.
"If you're a fan, especially a Dodgers fan, it was a great baseball game," Diamondbacks manager Bob Melvin said.
For whichever team they were rooting, most everyone had it in mind that Arizona was going to come out on top after the Dodgers intentionally walked Luis Gonzalez to get to Troy Glaus in the eighth inning, and Glaus calmly ripped a three-run homer for a 7-4 lead.
All the Diamondbacks had to do was hand the ball to closer Brandon Lyon, let him do what he has done best since the start of spring training: work a scoreless inning of relief - or at least keep the damage to a minimum.
It was in the bag, right?
"You never think that," Melvin said. "You've got three more outs to go. You never think that."
You started to agree after watching Glaus boot a ground ball at third base with one out in the ninth.
"I just flat kicked it," the slugger said of bobbling Antonio Perez's grounder.
But with two away, the problems were just beginning.
Lyon, losing track of first baseman Chad Tracy, balked Perez over to second. He scored on Ricky Ledee's double to center. Ledee then scored on a single by Cesar Izturis. Manager Jim Tracy summoned pinch-hitter Jose Valentin and Lyon, whose breaking pitches seemed to lack that extra bite, threw a slider that didn't quite slide.
Valentin smacked it well into the right field bleachers for the difference-maker.
"I just didn't make the pitches I wanted to," Lyon said after facing his first taste of adversity since undergoing elbow surgery a year ago March. "We battled out there and kept after it, but now we'll come back (today) and try and make it right."
Diamondbacks starter Shawn Estes threw five solid innings before tiring in the sixth and watching the Dodgers pounce for four runs. But Arizona, thanks to a solo home run by Tracy, an RBI single by Gonzalez, and a two-run homer by Jose Cruz Jr., had rallied to tie the score at 4.
Then the stage was set for Glaus, who was all too willing to play long ball with Dodgers pitcher Steve Schmoll. With first base open, Glaus knew the Dodgers were going to walk Gonzalez for the potential double play, so he didn't feel quite so bitter - especially after hitting his second home run in two games.
"No, that's the play," he said of the Dodgers' decision.
But bitterness was still there in the end, when Arizona had it in the bag - a three-run lead and just three outs away. Now it's in the trash.
View from Press Box
Has anyone else noticed Chad Tracy's stellar defense at first base in the first week of the season? For a young player in the majors making the switch from third base, it has been a nearly flawless transition thus far. - Bob McManaman
http://www.azcentral.com/sports/diamondbacks/articles/0409dbacks0409.html
Bob McManaman
The Arizona Republic
Apr. 9, 2005 12:00 AM
It was in the bag. Now it's in the trash.
The Diamondbacks had a three-run lead Friday night on the Dodgers at Bank One Ballpark and were three outs from winning their third straight game.
But it all fell apart under some strange situations and the Dodgers pulled it out in the end, claiming an 8-7 victory in front of a crowd of 25,813.
"If you're a fan, especially a Dodgers fan, it was a great baseball game," Diamondbacks manager Bob Melvin said.
For whichever team they were rooting, most everyone had it in mind that Arizona was going to come out on top after the Dodgers intentionally walked Luis Gonzalez to get to Troy Glaus in the eighth inning, and Glaus calmly ripped a three-run homer for a 7-4 lead.
All the Diamondbacks had to do was hand the ball to closer Brandon Lyon, let him do what he has done best since the start of spring training: work a scoreless inning of relief - or at least keep the damage to a minimum.
It was in the bag, right?
"You never think that," Melvin said. "You've got three more outs to go. You never think that."
You started to agree after watching Glaus boot a ground ball at third base with one out in the ninth.
"I just flat kicked it," the slugger said of bobbling Antonio Perez's grounder.
But with two away, the problems were just beginning.
Lyon, losing track of first baseman Chad Tracy, balked Perez over to second. He scored on Ricky Ledee's double to center. Ledee then scored on a single by Cesar Izturis. Manager Jim Tracy summoned pinch-hitter Jose Valentin and Lyon, whose breaking pitches seemed to lack that extra bite, threw a slider that didn't quite slide.
Valentin smacked it well into the right field bleachers for the difference-maker.
"I just didn't make the pitches I wanted to," Lyon said after facing his first taste of adversity since undergoing elbow surgery a year ago March. "We battled out there and kept after it, but now we'll come back (today) and try and make it right."
Diamondbacks starter Shawn Estes threw five solid innings before tiring in the sixth and watching the Dodgers pounce for four runs. But Arizona, thanks to a solo home run by Tracy, an RBI single by Gonzalez, and a two-run homer by Jose Cruz Jr., had rallied to tie the score at 4.
Then the stage was set for Glaus, who was all too willing to play long ball with Dodgers pitcher Steve Schmoll. With first base open, Glaus knew the Dodgers were going to walk Gonzalez for the potential double play, so he didn't feel quite so bitter - especially after hitting his second home run in two games.
"No, that's the play," he said of the Dodgers' decision.
But bitterness was still there in the end, when Arizona had it in the bag - a three-run lead and just three outs away. Now it's in the trash.
View from Press Box
Has anyone else noticed Chad Tracy's stellar defense at first base in the first week of the season? For a young player in the majors making the switch from third base, it has been a nearly flawless transition thus far. - Bob McManaman
http://www.azcentral.com/sports/diamondbacks/articles/0409dbacks0409.html
