Utley’s error was preceded by a grounder that nicked off the glove of third baseman Pedro Feliz for a single and a sacrifice bunt that reliever Chan Ho Park turned into a base hit.
It was followed by a pinch-hit single by Jim Thome — the only ball that left the infield — and a walk by Rafael Furcal that loaded the bases before Matt Kemp struck out. That brought on the left-handed Happ, who was baseball’s best pitcher with runners in scoring position this season, to face Ethier, who batted .194 against lefties this year.
But Ethier has delivered in the clutch, with six game-ending hits this season, including two against the Phillies. And he did this time, too, taking a 3-2 pitch low.
“It just seems like we’ve got that home magic right now,” said Dodgers catcher Russell Martin, recalling the good fortune of Matt Holliday’s dropped line drive against St. Louis in the division series.
For most of the afternoon, the magic belonged in the right arm of Martinez. He outdueled Vicente Padilla, whose only blemish was a home run by Ryan Howard, and turned in the type of I’ll-show-you performance that Martinez has seemed to routinely deliver during his career. And Friday, he had the perfect stage — a playoff game, his first in five years, at Dodger Stadium, the home of the team that devastated Martinez by trading him away as a 21-year-old.
That trade, to Montreal at the end of the 1993 season, in which the Dodgers acquired Delino DeShields, may be the worst in the team’s history. While they got little from DeShields and went through the likes of Kevin Brown, Hideo Nomo, Brad Penny and Jason Schmidt in search of an ace, Martinez won three Cy Young Awards.
Martinez gave the Dodgers — and all the other teams who passed on signing him last winter after his contract with the Mets expired — an afternoon of regret.
“This is the kind of game I want to be here for the team that picked me up,” Martinez said. “This is one classic example of the things I’ve always wanted to do.”
Martinez will turn 38 this month, and his fastball is past its prime. But Martinez has a deep reservoir of guile. The Dodgers were not baited into swinging at pitches that nibbled beyond the edge of the strike zone, often staying ahead in the count, and it was not until the fifth inning that a Dodger swung and missed at a pitch. But they rarely took smooth, balanced swings.
Even Manny Ramirez, his old friend and former Red Sox teammate, was fooled while striking out in the seventh, miles ahead of a changeup.
“Pedro’s that kind of pitcher — he don’t need to throw 95 to get people out,” Ramirez said with a smile. “He showed me that today.”
The only hits the Dodgers managed in seven innings were Martin’s fisted blooper and Kemp’s infield hit that bounced off Martinez’s glove. Martinez did not walk a batter.
“To us, it’s like art,” Martinez said. “You enjoy painting that little piece of wood. I enjoy every little bit of it, and when it gets more difficult, the more we enjoy it. I’m that kind of person. I see the crowd going bananas, and it feels like everything’s going in slow motion.”
The only time Martinez’s heart was sent racing was his final pitch, on which James Loney sent a fly ball to deep left-center field. When Phillies center fielder Shane Victorino, his right hand extended to feel for the wall, caught the ball, it elicited a raised fist from Martinez as he walked off the field.
Manager Charlie Manuel told him that would be enough and gave him a hug, as did several other Phillies.
But when Martinez left, the Phillies’ good fortune vanished with him.
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