Recap: Justin Turner Ties Game In 9th, Dodgers Lose On Walk-Off
Gonzalez, who is also a groundball pitcher, continued to do just that in the top of the fourth. He got two groundouts and a pop out en route to another quick inning. Anderson also had a quick inning in the fourth, despite issuing a leadoff walk. Gallo hit into a fielder’s choice, followed by another double play ball, this time off the bat of Robinson Chirinos to end the inning.
Yasmani Grandal dropped a bloop single to right-center with one out in the fifth. After retiring Alex Guerrero, Gonzalez waked Jimmy Rollins to put two on with two outs. He ended the inning by striking out Pederson to end the inning and keep the Rangers ahead, 1-0.
Anderson opened the bottom of the fifth with a strikeout of Leonys Martin. Hanser Alberto reached on a bunt single that Anderson managed to field relatively quickly, but his throw to first base was low and late. The Rangers executed a hit-and-run with Andrus at the plate as his single to right left runners on the corners with no outs.
Fielder hit a roller to Justin Turner and reached as the throw pulled Adrian Gonzalez off the bag, allowing a run to score that extended the Rangers’ lead to 2-0. The Dodgers again continued to swing early in the count as Puig flied out to right on the first pitch in the sixth.
Gonzalez grounded to second and Chi Chi Gonzalez struck out Kendrick to put another scoreless inning in the books. Anderson allowed a one-out single in the bottom of the sixth, but also struck out two and kept the Dodgers’ deficit at 2-0. Andrus made a sliding catch to rob Andre Ethier of a hit in what was a nine-pitch seventh for Gonzalez.
While the Dodgers continued to show any sign of life with their bats, Anderson kept them in the game by retiring the Rangers on 10 pitches in the seventh. Pederson hit a two-out single to center in the eighth to bring Puig to the plate representing the tying run. After taking a first-pitch ball, Puig grounded to short and the out was made at second base to end the inning.
Kyle Blanks hit a one-out double down the left field line and was pinch-run for by Jake Smolinski. Anderson made a nice stop on a comebacker for the second out, then ended the inning on his 114 pitch of the night by getting Gallo to fly out to shallow center field.
Chi Chi Gonzalez’s bid at a complete game shutout went off the track after issuing a one-out walk to Kendrick. A brief visit to the mound by Rangers pitching coach Mike Maddux was followed by Gonzalez’s first pitch to Turner being hit over the high left field fence to tie the game at 2-2.
With the game having dramatically shifted course, Shawn Tolleson was charged with the task of keeping the Rangers in position for a walk-off win in the bottom of the ninth. Tolleson found himself in hot water as Grandal and Guerrero hit back-to-back singles.
Chris Heisey pinch-ran for Grandal, though the extra speed on the bases wouldn’t come into play as Rollins worked a full count before flying out to left-center. Josh Ravin then came on in the bottom of the ninth and gave up a walk-off home run to Chirinos.
Joc Pederson On Game-Saving Catch
