AJ Ellis' Walk-Off In Bottom 9th Gives Dodgers Series Lead Over Phillies
LOS ANGELES (AP) A.J. Ellis hit an RBI single in the ninth inning, Hanley Ramirez hit a tape-measure, three-run homer in the first against Cliff Lee and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Philadelphia Phillies 4-3 on Saturday night.
Philadelphia's Chase Utley homered in his first two career at-bats against Hyun-Jin Ryu. But the Dodgers won for the seventh in eight games, bouncing back from a 16-1 loss Friday that was the franchise's most lopsided at home since a 19-2 rout by the New York Giants on July 3, 1947 - during Jackie Robinson's rookie season.
Ramirez led off the ninth against rookie Justin De Fratus (2-3) with a single before Matt Kemp took a called third strike. De Fratus walked Andre Ethier before Ellis lined a 2-2 pitch to right, scoring Ramirez.
Kenley Jansen (2-3) got the win. He came in trying to protect a 3-2 lead in the ninth for Ryu, but was charged with his third blown save in 10 chances as a result of some shoddy defense by his teammates.
Michael Young led off the ninth with a single down the right-field line and continued to second when rookie Yasiel Puig misplayed the ball for an error. Young advanced on Utley's groundout and held up on Jimmy Rollins' shallow fly to center fielder Kemp, whose hurried throw to the plate was about 20 feet to the first base side and bounced away from catcher Ellis, allowing Young to dash home with the tying run.
Domonic Brown followed with a triple to left field that Ethier - playing out of position - had difficulty tracking. But Jansen came back to strike out Delmon Young.
Lee gave up three runs and four hits in seven innings and struck out 10, after going 7-0 with a 2.00 ERA in his previous 10 starts. The left-hander, five years removed from his only Cy Young Award, escaped a based-loaded, no-out jam in the fourth by starting a 1-2-3 double play on a dribbler to the left of the mound by Ellis and then retiring Juan Uribe on a groundout.
Ryu allowed two runs, seven hits and three walks in seven innings and struck out six.
Lefty Paco Rodriguez relieved Ryu and faced one batter, retiring Brown on a foul popup. Then righty Ronald Belisario came in, and the Phillies loaded the bases on a single by Young, a double by pinch-hitter Laynce Nix and an intentional walk to Ben Revere.
Uribe then fielded Carlos Ruiz's grounder to third base and got the force at the plate, with Ruiz just beating the relay to first by Ellis. Slumping slugger Ryan Howard, who was not in the starting lineup for this game and Friday night's because left-handers were starting for the Dodgers, was sent up to hit for Lee and Los Angeles countered with lefty J.P. Howell.
Manager Charlie Manuel took the bat out of Howard's strong hands and sent up Kevin Frandsen, who was robbed of a hit by shortstop Ramirez on a grounder up the middle. Ramirez smothered the ball and made a backhanded flip to second baseman Mark Ellis for the force on Ruiz.
Puig, who has hit safely in 21 of his first 25 major league games, triggered the Dodgers' first-inning rally with a single before Lee walked Adrian Gonzalez. Ramirez drove the next pitch an estimated 439 feet to center field, where it landed on top of an elevated platform where the anchor desk for the Dodgers' postgame show sits. It was only the second homer Lee has given up on the road this season in 82 innings.
Utley, the second batter Ryu faced in his first career start against the Phillies, drove a 1-1 pitch deep into the right-field pavilion and then hit a 0-1 delivery into the lower seats in the right-field corner two innings later.
It was Utley's 20th career multihomer effort, and marked the first time he went deep twice in a game against the same pitcher since April 28, 2009 - when he did it against current teammate John Lannan in a 7-1 win over the Washington Nationals at Philadelphia.
Revere, who had three hits against Ryu and eight during the first three games of this series, doubled into the right-field corner with two outs in the sixth and the ball caromed off the Puig's left foot and over the short wall. Manuel came out to argue with first base umpire Bill Miller that Revere could have made it to third without Puig's impetus, but it remained a ground-rule double.
NOTES: Dodgers RHP Josh Beckett is scheduled to undergo season-ending surgery in about 1 1-2 weeks to relieve pressure on the nerve in his neck. The announcement was made by the club following a consultation Beckett had with team physician Neal ElAttrache and Dr. Greg Pearl of Dallas, who will perform the surgery there. "I know he had some tingling again yesterday after throwing," manager Don Mattingly said. "He didn't throw very long. I know there was a little bit of a setback there." ... The Phillies have pushed back struggling LHP Cole Hamels two days in the rotation to next Thursday at Pittsburgh, which would give him seven days' rest between starts. The 2008 World Series MVP and NLCS MVP is 2-11 with a 4.58 ERA in 17 outings and leads the majors in losses. "He might benefit by clearing his head," Manuel said. "He's totally healthy. We just want to give him a blow and see if it won't help him some, and see if it can get him feeling good about himself." ... Dodgers RHP Peter Moylan, who gave up five runs over two innings after relieving Chris Capuano in Friday's game, was optioned to Triple-A Albuquerque. The club purchased the contract of RHP Jose Dominguez from Albuquerque. This will be his first trip to the big leagues. ... Mark Ellis was 0 for 3 against Lee, and has four hits in 29 career at-bats against him. ... A moment of silence was observed for Justin Miller, who spent the final season of his seven-year career with the Dodgers in 2010 and made 19 relief appearances. He died Wednesday at age 35.
