Attack of the Killer Tomato

Friday was another day, another extra innings extravaganza for this guy. For the second consecutive night, I was treated to a great game in person (a 10-inning affair at Yankee Stadium in which the Yanks came back to beat the Pirates) and returned home to see the Dodgers playing extras. The one difference was that on Friday the Dodgers came up victorious, thanks in large part to the one and only Killer Tomato, Olmedo Saenz.

Saenz' walkoff home run in the bottom of the 10th gave the Dodgerst a win after wasting great pitching performances in too many games recently. Brad Penny was awesome, giving up one run in 7 2/3 innings, but took his fifth no-decision of the year. Jeff Kent and Luis Gonzalez had two hits apiece to carry the team offensively until the Killer Tomato hit the two-run shot.

Also encouraging for the Dodgers was Jonathan Broxton's performance a night after collapsing against San Diego. Grady Little called on Broxton to relieve Penny with two outs and a man on in the eighth, and Broxton responded by striking out Alex Rios (who has 14 home runs).

Of course, we can't forget possibly the move significant development of the night, Matt Kemp's appearance as a pinch-runner in the eighth. His mere presence as a base runner was not so important, but the club's enthusiasm about his call-up and his overall play this year -- in L.A. before he got injured and in Vegas since -- give cause for optimism. Little said that he won't start, but he'll see playing time, "all over the outfield." Clearly Grady Little has jumped on board with the blog.

Extra Thoughts

The Yankees game was pretty cool. I sat about 10 rows behind the plate and got to watch Andy Pettitte pitch from the perfect vantage point -- It is probably why I was surrounded by scouts. The Pirates looked fine, especially Tom Gorzellany. He had a 3-2 lead going into the seventh, at which point I realized how happy I am that Jim Tracy is no longer the Dodgers' manager.

With a man on third and one out, Tracy elected not to walk Derek Jeter, which would have brought slumping Bobby Abreu to bat against a lefty who was dealing. Instead, he had Gorzellany pitch to Jeter, who promptly singled to make it a one-run game.

Then Tracy really did it: He brought in a lefty, John Grabow, to face Abreu! Grabow promptly gave up a single to Abreu and got pulled for Solomon Torres.

Hey Jim, did you know you already had a lefty on the mound with first base open? Did it not cross your mind that you could have avoided facing one of the most prolific contact hitters of his time and instead given your team the opportunity to turn a double play and get out of the inning with the lead?

Apparently not. The Yanks ended up rallying in the 10th to win on a Jeter knubber with the bases loaded and the Buccos finally got the outcome that it seemed they figured was inevitable.

Aside from the game and the seats, which were great, my favorite part of the night was, as it usually is, the YMCA. Always fun for all involved, the Yankee Stadium grounds crew makes this experience especially enjoyable with their choreographed dance that goes way beyond the basic Y-M-C-A arm gestures. Very fun, I recommend making a trip to the Bronx to see it.