Holliday's Goof Opens Door for Dodger Rally

NFL News - October 9th, 2009 - Written by Scott

A soft liner flew into the basket of Matt Holliday and the series appeared tied. It was the third out of the last inning and the Cardinals had all but sealed their 2-1 win. But then they didn't. Somewhere along the way, Holliday lost the ball in the fray of white towels waving, feeling the ball hit his gut and squirt to the turf. Likewise, the Cardinals took a monumental punch to the gut, allowing three consecutive base runners with two outs, and Los Angeles' Mark Loretta hit a game-winning single to take a 2-0 lead.

“I didn’t see the ball,” Holliday said. “Obviously, I can catch a ball that’s hit right at me. It’s very difficult to swallow. We had a chance to win the game. It was unfortunate that it happened when it did.”

Loretta's hit capped a two-run inning that stunned manager Tony LaRussa and the Cardinals. The NL Central champs now find themselves in a monumental hole. All four Division Series' last year started 2-0 and all four teams who led went on to win.

“It’s about as tough a loss as you can have, except we still have an opportunity to play Saturday,” LaRussa said. “Right now I think it’s important to get upset about the game that got away. We did a lot to win that one and didn’t win it. Turn the page too quickly means you don’t care.”

It spoiled another great outing by Adam Wainwright, who had only lost once this season following a Chris Carpenter loss. The Dodgers, as a result, have gone through arguably the toughest 1-2 punch in baseball and haven't waivered.

The ninth-inning rally started when Holliday muffed James Loney's liner but continued when Franklin seemed rattled. Casey Blake battled from an 0-2 count to draw a walk before pinch-hitter Ronnie Belliard singled up the middle to score Loney's pinch-runner, Juan Pierre. The Dodgers then loaded the bases with a walk to Russell Martin before Loretta got inside a Franklin fastball and deposited it into center field. Loretta had previously been 0-for-15 against Franklin.

“Unfortunately, I did know the numbers,” said Loretta, who signed with the Dodgers as a free agent in the offseason. “I really didn’t have a lot of nerves. I felt like all the pressure was on them at that point. I was fortunate to find a little bit of fairway out there.”

The Dodgers have now won an NL-leading 24 games via last at-bat.

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