A Blue Comeback:The Dodgers Seven In Heaven

Sometimes the Dodgers do something especially cool. Sometimes they seem to accomplish the improbable. Every once in a while the Dodgers can pull off something magical. Spectacular feats and incredible comebacks can happen to any team but it seems the Dodgers are able to pull them off at times when they appear to be at their worst. Last night in San Francisco, the Dodgers appeared to be at their worst. They were dead in the water. Until the top of the fifth inning that is. That magical special inning, brought the Dodgers back from the brink. Even though they wound up losing the game in the tenth inning 10-9, at least we’ll always have this miraculous top of the fifth inning.

A.J. Ellis scores a run in the Dodger’s miracle fifth inning seven-run comeback.

The Dodgers were down 6-1 at the time scored seven runs all with two outs using an incredible flurry of hits to take an 8-6 lead. It all started on a Nick Punto walk. Carl Crawford followed by beating out a grounder. Turning what could have been a double play into a force out. Jerry Hairston followed with a ground-rule double, and then the Dodgers exploded.

A cracked bat two-run single to center from Matt Kemp made the score 6-3 Giants. After A fly out from Andre Ethier, the real fun began. A.J. Ellis drew a walk. A humble thing in of itself, but it extended the inning. Skip Schumaker’s run scoring single scored Kemp, and advanced AJ to second. The score was 6-4 now. Juan Uribe’s ground ball single into left scored AJ and the Dodgers were now only down by one run at 6-5. San Francisco tries to stop the Dodger’s momentum by making a pitching change. Jean Machi is called in to relieve Ryan Vogelsong. It didn’t work.

Dee Gordon’s two-run triple into the gap scores Schumaker and Uribe and gives the Dodgers the lead at 7-6. Gordon was just called up from Albuquerque, but his electrifying speed gives the Dodgers a huge boost. Amazing. The fun didn’t stop there though. The impressive Punto comes up again, this time he smacks a line drive double down the right field line. Gordon walks in to score, and the Dodgers had an 8-6 lead. Carl Crawford even followed with a single, and stole second, but Hairston’s strike out ended that heavenly frame.

That’s seven runs on seven hits and two walks. I haven’t seen a Dodger rally like this in some time. The Dodger base running this inning was fantastic. The Dodgers took extra bases on every opportunity they could. They scored on every hit, and went balls to the walls. Watching Phony Book park fall into stunned silence was a priceless joy. It was incredible.

It’s a shame the Dodgers couldn’t pull out the win. It would have made for some story wouldn’t it? The Dodgers rallying from five runs behind to win it over their arch rivals against all odds. It was not to be I guess. An ineffective bullpen, and a horribly bad decision to bunt in the top of the eighth, cost the Dodgers the game. At the very least we can take solace in knowing the Dodgers didn’t give up. it made the game worth watching, no matter how painful it ended. Regardless of what happened, or what will happen from this point on, we’ll always have the top of the fifth.