Chad Billingsley pitched an amazing game. As he entered the ninth inning with a 6-1 lead and pitching a two hitter to that point, I was fairly confident of another win.
He started off by giving up a HR to Chase Headley to make it 6-2 and the next batter he faced was Tony Gwynn, Jr. not Sr. Gwynn doubles and Billingsley is removed from the game to bring in Jonathan Broxton. Broxton is 6 and 0 with 20 saves. The guy is a sure lock if there ever was sucha thing in sports. But is sports you can expect the unexpected.
Broxton proceeds to self destruct. He makes 38 pitches, gives up two hits, one of which drove in Gwynn, so Billingsley gets charged with 3 ER on the night, and also walks 3 guys. Suddenly the 6-1 lead against the anemic Padres has become a 6-6 tie heading into extra innings. Now the Dodgers eventually did win in the 13th but a sure win for Billingsley certainly got away.
Billingsley contributed at the plate on the night too. His first at bat he doubled and in his second at bat he hit career HR #1 and raised his batting average for his career to an unimpressive .128. It would have been a great day for Chad. He could have had a complete game 2 hitter and picked up two himself. Sadly this game will just be another game in his career.
Why are sports so exciting to watch? Because you never know what is gonna happen. Sometimes it is for good and sometimes, not so much, just ask the Dodger ace.
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