Astros rocket over the Dodgers
Posted: Apr 26, 2006
Houston- Preston Wilson of the Houston Astros hit a sacrifice fly in the 14th inning to score Willy Taveras of the Houston Astros to give the Houston Astros a 4-3 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers Tuesday night at Minute Maid Park.
"It was just nice to get the win so we could all go to bed," Wilson said, who also had an RBI single, down 3-2 heading into the ninth inning the Los Angeles Dodgers tied the score as Brad Lidge of the Houston Astros once again couldnt hold a lead, Oscar Robles of the Los Angeles Dodgers walked to begin the inning, with Jason Repko of the Los Angeles Dodgers pinch running for Robles, then stealing second and moving to third on a wild pitch and scoring as Jeff Kent of the Los Angeles Dodgers hit a sacrifice fly, although Brad Lidge of the Houston Astros struggled again manager Phil Garner remained confident in ledge's abilities, "If it's the same situation tomorrow, he'll be back out there," Garner said.
"He'll save a lot more for us than he'll lose." both teams' had great chances to end the game before the 14th as the Houston Astros loaded the bases in the 12th inning and had only one out, but relief pitcher Lance Carter of the Los Angeles Dodgers worked out of the jam, as he retired both Preston Wilson and Jason Lane of the Houston Astros to end the threat.
In the 14th, Hong Chih Kuo (0-3)of the Los Angeles Dodgers relieved Lance Carter and with one out walked Taveras. Lance Berkman of the Houston Astros doubled off the left-field wall, Kuo intentionally walked Morgan Ensberg of the Houston Astros and Wilson hit a fly ball to deep center to seal the Los Angeles Dodgers fate.
After a difficult first inning Brad Penny of the Los Angeles pitched superbly again going seven innings and giving up three runs on five hits, the five pitchers who followed Brad Penny of the Los Angeles Dodgers were terrific allowing only one run in six + innings of work which pleased Los Angeles Dodgers manager Grady Little.
"I was really pleased with the way the pitchers hung in there," said Little. "We made some good pitches and they kept us in there as long as they could."
Ezequiel Astacio of the Houston Astros got the win despite walking three runners in the top of the 14th and was the eighth pitcher used by the Houston Astros, Kenny Lofton of the Los Angeles Dodgers went 4-for-6 and has been oustanding since coming off the disabled list, Bill Mueller and J.D. Drew of the Los Angeles Dodgers continue to play well as they combined for three hits in eight at-bats...both are batting over .300 for the season.
The Los Angeles Dodgers record fell to 10-11 on the season, while the Houston Astros improved to a national league best 14-6, the game lasted a Minute Maid Park record 4 hours and 48 minutes, the two teams will conclude their three game series today as Odalis Perez of the Los Angeles Dodgers will pitch against Wandy Rodriguez of the Houston Astros.
