Gonzalez Provides Hollywood Script Hitting Homer In Debut, As Dodgers Route Marlins In 8-2 Victory.
The Dodgers have been very active the last 30 days in the majors acquiring Hanley Ramirez from the Marlins as well as Shane Victorinio and Joe Blaton from the Phillies a few weeks back. But most recently Yesterday afternoon, the Dodgers completed a 9 player blockbuster deal (and biggest deal of the season) to land all-stars Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford Josh Beckett; and Nick Punto. The deal was announced Friday and completed Saturday afternoon before their game against the Miami Marlins.
Los Angeles now takes on a quarter of a billion dollars in guaranteed money in efforts to make a strong push towards the World Series with the postseason approaching in just over a month from now. Already having arguably the best player in the majors in Matt Kemp, along with power-hitters Ethier & Ramirez; the Dodgers now get two more power-bats from Gonzalez & Crawford to join the core group of players there. Prior to the game, the face of dodgers ownership, Magic Johnson spoke candidly about the trade stating “We did this for our fans. We want to win now…We understand that you have to spend money to be good in this league. We understood that before we bought the team. So we’re excited”.
The Miami Marlins were in town for the second of a three-game series, as newly acquired slugger Adrian Gonzalez caught a red-eye flight to Hollywood late Friday night to make it to Saturdays game. Starting off things in the bottom of the first, the new-look Dodgers were already off to the races as Mark Ellis and Luis Cruz (RBI) hit back to back doubles to give their team a 1-0 lead. Following that, captain Matt Kemp hit a single to center as Cruz went to third. Next to bat was newly acquired first-baseman Adrian Gonzalez, who was greeted to a standing ovation upon taking the mound. In his first at bat ever as a Dodger, Gonzalez hit a three-run homer off Marlins pitcher Josh Johnson bringing in Kemp and Cruz.
2 batters later, right-fielder Andre Ethier who’s been the talk of the Dodger nation this week hitting 6 consecutive times, singled into center upping his total to seven. Going into the bottom of the third, Etheir would double to right center starting off the inning and would score on a single to left by catcher A.J. Ellis. In his third at bat starting things off once more at bottom of the 5th inning, Ethier would homer to right (14th) tying an L.A. Dodgers record for most consecutive hits. Finally in his last at bat in the bottom of the 7th, Etheir would hit his fourth hit of the game passing the record making it his 10th straight hit. Ronald Belisario would come in for closer duties in the 9th and that was all she wrote as L.A. won 8-2.
The Dodgers are now a half game back of the Braves and Cardinals in wild card standings; and are only 2 games back of the NL west leading Giants who lost their star player Melky Cabrera last week due to testing positive for high levels of testosterone suggesting the 2012 all-star game MVP had been using performance-enhancing drugs. Josh Beckett who’s having a career worst 5.23 ERA with a 5-11 record, will be making his dodgers debut Monday night against the Colorado Rockies. With a deep hitting lineup as a support system for the former pitcher of the year, he should now be rejuvenated coming to a team with real hopes and aspirations for a deep postseason run come October. Things could now get really interested, as the Dodgers who have arguably the best hitting lineup in all of majors, could grab a possible World Series bid with the postseason starting in a few weeks.