Top Ten Dodger Homeruns of 2014: 5- Carl Crawford’s 11th Inning Blast

Way back in May, Carl Crawford was trying to rebound after a horrible April slump which saw him hit .194 with no homeruns. Perhaps Crawford felt a bit at home during the road trip which had the Dodgers stop in Miami for the weekend in early May. Crawford finally snapped out of his slump with a clutch 11th inning homerun which gave the Dodgers their only win out of three against the Marlins in the series.

5: 5/3/14- Carl Crawford’s 11th-inning blast was his first of the season and put the Dodgers ahead of the Marlins for good.

Carl Crawford’s two-run homerun off old friend Carlos Marmol in the 11th inning gave the Dodgers the 9-7 win in a

May 3, 2014; Miami, FL, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers left fielder Carl Crawford (3) connects for a two run homer in the 11th inning against the Miami Marlins at Marlins Ballpark. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

game which they almost squandered away. The Marlins were able to tie up the game in the bottom of the ninth inning off the often shaky Chris Perez, but the Fish went on to blow it in the top of the eleventh.

Back in the early part of the season, Crawford was still rusty and not starting every day. A fruitless month of April transitioned into a good month of May when the left fielder hit .333 with 4 homeruns, 14 RBIs and 5 stolen bases. This was the Carl Crawford which later would cement his starting role in left field down the stretch after Matt Kemp found his semi-permanent home in right field with Yasiel Puig in center.

Crawford cooled off a bit in July after missing the entire month of June after a bad ankle injury on May 28th. CC was red hot when he twisted his ankle, and it would take him a little while to work his way back to a starting role and to brush off the rust.

The Perfect Storm’s first homerun of the season was perhaps his most exciting after it gave the Dodgers a rare comeback victory in an extra-inning game. The Dodgers had to come back from behind after a uninspiring start from Paul Maholm who served up two homeruns to Miami and a typical 2014 bullpen implosion later in the game featuring Brian Wilson and Chris Perez. Oh hey, Chris Withrow was still healthy at this time, and he struck out Giancarlo Stanton with the bases loaded to escape a jam in the eighth.

Brandon League got the win after pitching two scoreless frames while inducing a key double play in the bottom of the tenth to escape yet another jam. Crawford  went on to be the hero the next inning.

Crawford finished the season by hitting .448 in September and October.

Carl Crawford, the poet, had this to say about his game winning homerun:

"“Like busting that big pimple or something,” said Crawford, who was in a 4-for-45 slide before the homer in the 11th inning. “You know things are getting bad and you need to do something before they get worse. You hope you just get a base hit or something.”"