Dodgers Beat Jays 4-3
Posted June 9, 2007 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Since he first put on a Los Angeles Dodgers uniform in 2004, utilityman Olmedo Saenz has been more about quality that quantity. The nameplate over his locker reads “Killer-T,” which is short for “Killer Tomato”. On Friday night, Saenz again demonstrated the reason he earned that moniker with a two-run, pinch-hit homer in the 10th inning that gave the Dodgers a 4-3 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays.
Jeremy Accardo (1-2) came on in the 10th and issued a leadoff walk to Tony Abreu before Saenz batted for reliever Rudy Seanez and drove an 0-1 pitch into the left field pavilion for his fourth career walkoff homer and first since July 2, 2002. Seanez (3-1) pitched 1-3 of an inning for the victory, the Dodgers’ 12th in their last 15 home games.
Toronto’s Dustin McGowan allowed two runs and four hits over seven innings before he was removed for a pinch hitter with the Blue Jays trailing 2-1. Matt Stairs took him off the hook with his eighth home run, driving closer Takashi Saito’s 1-2 pitch into the lower seats just inside the right field pole leading off the ninth. The blown save was the first in 17 opportunities this season for Saito, who missed the previous four games because of a sore left hamstring and had converted his previous 26 opportunities overall.
Beimel retired his first two batters in the 10th before John McDonald hit a bloop double off the glove of second baseman Jeff Kent near the foul line. Gregg Zaun, sidelined since April 25 because of a broken right thumb, bounced a single down the line off the glove of Abreu as McDonald scored.
McGowan, facing the Dodgers for the first time, retired 16 consecutive batters between Gonzalez’s leadoff double in the second and Kent’s leadoff double in the seventh. Gonzalez followed Kent’s hit with his eighth homer, a towering drive to right. “Dustin’s a young, inexperienced kid with a dynamite arm, and he’s just coming into his own as a pitcher,” Toronto manager John Gibbons said.
Dodgers starter Brad Penny gave up one run in 7 2-3 innings. He allowed five hits, struck out seven and walked none.
