Jonathan Broxton was the Dodgers' closer. Then he wasn't the Dodgers' closer. Then he was the Dodgers' closer. Now he isn't the Dodgers' closer? On Wednesday afternoon, it was Vicente Padilla who picked up the save as the Los Angeles Dodgers downed the Florida Marlins 5-4 in ten innings.
Dodgers Vs. Marlins: Vicente Padilla Closes Out Extra-Innings Win
The Marlins got off to a hot start against Chad Billingsley, scoring four times in the second inning. The big hit was a bases-loaded, bases-clearing double by Chris Coghlan that established the early 4-0 lead.
But from there, Billingsley settled down while the Dodgers' bats chipped away. Rod Barajas smashed a three-run homer off Anibal Sanchez in the fourth, and then pinch-hitter Juan Uribe knotted things up in the seventh with an RBI double off reliever Ryan Webb.
Both teams had excellent opportunities to score late game-winning runs. The Dodgers loaded the bases with one out in the eighth before Ivan DeJesus grounded into a double play. The Marlins put runners on second and third with one out in the bottom of the ninth before Scott Cousins struck out and John Buck bounced a routine grounder to short.
That took the game to extras, where Andre Ethier led off the tenth with a solo homer to right against Brian Sanches. It was Ethier's third home run of the season, and only the second hit Sanches had allowed in nine games; earlier, Ethier had extended his hitting streak to 24 games with a fourth-inning single.
The Dodgers’ bullpen was stirring, and where ordinarily you’d expect Jonathan Broxton to get the ball in a save situation, Broxton remained seated, and it was Vicente Padilla who came out of the bullpen to work the bottom of the tenth in a 5-4 game. Padilla worked through the Marlins 1-2-3 by inducing three consecutive groundouts, and picked up his first save since 2000.
Between Ned Colletti and Don Mattingly, it’s unclear who’s running the show in LA. What is clear is that a rested Broxton was not called on to close, so this is clearly a situation to monitor.
For more on the Dodgers and Marlins, please check out team blogs True Blue LA and Fish Stripes.
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