Dodgers fall to Tigers 7-6 in extra-inning game that was boring until it wasn’t

Josh Beckett made his season debut against the Tigers today, starting a game in which the Dodgers fell 7-6 in extra innings, but that doesn’t really begin to tell the story.

Going back to the beginning, Beckett’s start took about four hours and he bores me to tears, so he needs to pitch well to justify fans dying in the stands of old age. Unfortunately, he lasted just four innings and gave up five runs (four earned) on five hits. If you’re looking for the silver lining, he did top out at 94 mph and struck out five while walking one.

Honestly, it was a pretty sloppy game until the ninth, as the Dodgers made three errors and the Tigers made one. It was also a baserunning bonanza with Beckett on the mound for the Dodgers and Victor Martinez behind the plate for the Tigers. The teams combined for six stolen bases and two more were caught stealing, so safe to say the scouting report was out.

Fortunately, Joe Nathan managed to inject excitement back into the bout in the ninth, giving up a lead-off homer to A-God before walking Andre Ethier to put the tying run on base. Matt Kemp had a great at-bat before walking, then Juan Uribe flared a single into the Bermuda Triangle in right center.

That loaded the bases with nobody out for Yasiel Puig, who always seems to find the spotlight. This time he struck out on three pitches, the last of which was a nasty backup slider. Scott Van Slyke followed by grounding to third, scoring a run on a fielder’s choice.

So the game was in the hands of Dee Gordon with two down. And yes, Dee Gordon singled to bring in the tying run and send it into extras. Unfortunately, once there, Kenley Jansen continued to struggle a bit, giving up the eventual game-winning bomb to Victor Martinez which broke the deadlock and lead to Emoville, population me.

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-Dee Gordon now has a .978 OPS on the season. Really.

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I WANT TO BELIEVE

-Matt Kemp’s OPS is .841 but he has struck out eight times in 20 PA. So his power might be back, but he still has to get back into the whole hitting the ball part.

–Tim Federowicz now has five strikeouts in seven plate appearances. This is a remarkable pace.