The Dodgers began their 13-game homestand Monday night with a victory against the Arizona Diamondbacks after Casey Blake was balked home by Arizona's Esmerling Vasquez, breaking a 4-4 tie in the bottom of the 9th.
Wait!... A walk-off balk?
Yes. A walk-off balk. A "balk-off," if you may.
It is understandable if your initial reaction was, "those actually occur?". The answer is yes, but very rarely. The last major league walk-off balk was September 9th, 2008, when Atlanta's Kelly Johnson was awarded home by virtue of Colorado's Taylor Buccholz.
Dodger fans have to look a little further back. By little, I mean about 20 years. Tonight was only the second "balk-off" since 1969, the other occurring on May 28, 1989, thanks to Roger McDowell and the Mets.
Ironically, tonight's ending was perfect... it brilliantly symbolized the great lengths Arizona traveled in order to award the Dodgers with victory that they most certainly did not deserve. However, you can't blame Arizona's manager A.J. Hinch. The poor guy must of confused Memorial Day with Christmas. It's an honest mistake... the holidays are essentially interchangeable. Hey, A.J: Christmas is the day for gift giving.
It all started in the bottom of the eighth inning with men on second and third and, wouldn't you know, two outs (I'm sensing a trend...). "Mr. walk-off" himself, Andre Ethier, stepped up to the plate and hit a routine ground ball to Kelly Johnson. If that name sounds familiar, it's because that's the same Kelly Johnson that was balk-offed by Taylor Buccholz in 2008. Not only did Johnson fail to cleanly field the ball, which allowed Ethier to reach first safely, but he also threw the ball away, allowing Furcal and Kemp to both score and tie the game at 4.
Why did the Dodgers to erase a 4 run lead in the first place? Because Chad Billingsly first two innings were horrendous. He gave up 3 home runs and a double. There's not much else you can say. Yes, granted, his next 6 innings were brilliant, striking out 7 (11 in total). Last time I checked, however, the first two innings aren't meant for warming up.
If it wasn't for Arizona's defensive collapse in the 8th and 9th inning, the Dodgers simply would not have been able to overcome that deficit. On the other hand, Arizona's pitcher, Rodrigo Lopez, was brilliant in 8 strong innings. Other than Furcal and Kemp and Manny (barely), the Dodger's offense was non-existent.
Flash forward to the 9th inning. James Loney led off the inning with a walk, and Casey Blake singled him to second. Personally, I was hoping Torre would have Russell Martin move Blake and Loney to second and third with a sacrifice bunt, and then have Blake DeWitt squeeze Loney home. Unfortunately, Loney decided to get pickled off after trying to unexplainably steal third while Arizona was looking the other way. Martin grounded out to second, advancing Blake to third with two outs. The rest is history.
The most surprising aspect of tonight's wild ending was the fact that A.J. Hinch did not bother arguing the balk. It was a questionable call... you can take my word for it. And yes, umpires will eject managers and pitchers for arguing balls, strikes, and balks, as exemplified by Mark Buehrle and Ozzie Guillen of the Chiacgo Whitesox a little under a week ago. Nonetheless, correct me if I'm wrong (I may be going out on a limb here), but, you can't get ejected from a game that's over.
The D-backs have lost 8 straight and have the 2nd worst record in the NL. Hinch clearly did not care enough to show some fight for his team; instead, he walked straight back into the visiting locker room, showing no emotion along the way. Hinch is long past "being on the hot seat," and, as tonight illustrates, he is fully aware. It's just a matter of time until the D-backs replace with him a new interim manager. If the Dodgers were on the losing end of that 9th inning, do you think Torre would have handled the questionable balk in similar fashion? Absolutely not.
Tonight's game confirms the old saying: "Bad teams find a way to lose; good teams find a way to win."
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