Jason Bartlett shines as San Diego Padres defeat Los Angeles Dodgers 3-0 – MLB Update
A scoreless tiebreaker homer in the sixth by Jason Bartlett took the San Diego Padres to series avoiding 3-0 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers in Petco Park, San Diego on Wednesday, August 3.
Having a scoreless game until the bottom of the sixth inning, spectators have gone bored but suddenly Petco Park sparked when Bartlett launched a dazzling one-run homer off Ted Lilly to shatter the scoreless tie. Besides this hit, Bartlett also had three
hits to help his club avoid series sweep with a shut-out win over the strong Dodgers.
As he gained what the Padres were looking to provide back up to their starter Tim Stauffer, the batting line-up fired up with devastating hits. With a base loaded, Luis Martinez chipped to short-stop Dee Gordon who committed an error to allow Aaron Cunningham
to score the second run in the bottom of the seventh inning. Then first baseman Jesus Guzman singled to left-field, allowing Bartlett, who was occupying third base, to score third run of the game.
The 29-year-old Tim Stauffer pitched perfect six innings. He allowed only six hits and one walk while struck-out two batters to get his seventh win of the season. His 90 pitches long spell was filled with gritty sinkers, swinging balls, slow changeups and
fast troughs.
Josh Spence tossed only 13 pitches to allow one walk and struck-out one batter. Chad Qualls worked perfect eighth inning, punched out two batters and remained hitless. Tossing 15 pitches spell, Qualls managed to get his eleventh hold of the season. Closer
Heath Bell also threw granular pitches in the ninth inning to get his 31 save of the season.
Dodgers’ Lilly received an ultimate shock when Bartlett sent his fastball into the stands. Before this hit, he was unplayable with only four hits over his six innings. Although his 11th loss caused some disappointment in his camp, he still managed
to get seven strike-outs.
However, the ultimate shock for Dodgers’ manager Don Mattingly was poor performance by his relievers. Matt Guerrier gave away in a crucial time when the Dodgers were looking to get back in the game, but his given run caused extra pressure over the batters.
Dodgers finally lost all hope when Blake Hawksworth also allowed a run and two hits in the eighth. Josh Lindblom tossed a scoreless inning but it was not enough for the struggling Dodgers to get back into the game.
Dodgers lost their 60th game of the season. Now they must be looking to make some positive improvements in their performance to get back in the 2011 regular season.
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