I don't watch Baseball Tonight, but when I do, I usually just want to see the Web Gems. I definitely didn't watch tonight, because all the Web Gems happened at Petco Park tonight. Logan Forsythe, Chris Denorfia, and Alexi Amarista all made stunning plays to hold the Dodgers to three runs. Meanwhile, Pedro Ciriaco made Josh Byrnes look like a genius as he picked up 2 runs and 3 RBI on a triple and a home run. He basically won the game for us.
Things got off on the wrong foot when noted pugilist Yasiel Puig took Marquis deep. That was pretty much all that happened for the first few innings. The Padres, masters of the late comeback, waited until the fifth inning to score. Alexi Amarista led off the inning with a single, then moved to third when Marc Ellis's error put Ciriaco on first. With Marquis at the plate, Ciriaco stole second, as Padres shortstops are wont to do. And then Marquis hit the bloopiest of bloopers to shallow left field to tie the game. Logan Forsythe followed with an RBI single to give them the lead. It didn't last long, as the Dodgers knocked out a pair of singles and then tied it back up on Juan Uribe's sacrifice fly.
The Dodgers threatened again in the top the of the seventh, but phenomenal defense by Forsythe and Chris Denorfia kept the game tied. Somebody at MLB is crazy and didn't post video of Forsythe's play, so you'll just have to take my word for it.
Update: Here's Logan's catch!
But Deno's catch is available in all its glory:
In the bottom of the seventh, Yasmani Grandal led off with a hit into the left field corner. He went all the way around to home when Skip Schumaker couldn't come up with the ball, but was called back to second when it was revealed the ball skipped through a gap in the fence. No matter, as Ciriaco banged out a triple to left center. Mark Kotsay popped out, and then Forsythe was intentionally walked to bring up Will Venable. Ciriaco wasn't quite quick enough to get home on his bunt, but it put Forsythe in scoring position for Chase Headley's RBI single.
With two outs in the top of the 8th, Andre Ethier singled to bring the tying run to the plate in Juan Uribe. Juan Uribe hit the ball hard to right center field. It was heading straight toward the gap and looked like a surefire double at the very least. But Alexi Amarista, not happy with all the attention Will Venable has been getting, decided to one-up him.
Have you been worried about the Padres holding leads after the last two games? That's okay. Ciriaco has your back. He blasted a two-run homer to left field in the 8th to give the team plenty of breathing room. Then Jaff Decker walked in his first career plate appearance... only to get caught stealing. But thank WG for that home run, because Huston Street did not look good tonight. First he gave up a leadoff home run, and then he put runners on first and second. Thankfully, the Patron Saint of Double Plays, having been so thoroughly impressed by the Padres defense tonight, granted our boys a huge 4-6-3 double play. Street rallied to strike out Puig for the final out. The Padres won their seventh home game in a row and returned to sole possession of third place. First place is just 2.5 games away.
Tomorrow is the Battle of the Claytons as Clayton Richard takes on Clayton Kershaw at 7:10 PM.
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