Bizarre & Myths ·
Four Home Runs to Tie, One More to Win
Trailing the Padres by four in the ninth on September 18, 2006, the Dodgers hit four consecutive solo homers—then needed Garciaparra’s two-run shot in the 10th to finish the comeback.
The Dodgers were down 9–5 when Jeff Kent came to bat in the bottom of the ninth at Dodger Stadium on September 18, 2006. He hit Jon Adkins’s second pitch deep to center field for a home run. J.D. Drew followed with another, into the right-field pavilion. The deficit was cut in half, and San Diego manager Bruce Bochy brought in closer Trevor Hoffman. The next two batters each needed only one pitch to erase the rest.
The game was the last of a four-game series between two teams separated by half a game in the National League West. San Diego held first place and had won 13 of its previous 17 meetings with Los Angeles. The Dodgers scored 820 runs that season, but home runs were not their usual means of producing them: Their 153 ranked second to last in the league.
That night, Los Angeles had already recovered from one four-run deficit. San Diego scored four times in the first inning, and the Dodgers drew even by the end of the third. The Padres went ahead again in the eighth, then added three runs in the ninth. With a four-run cushion, it was not a save situation, and Bochy sent Adkins to the mound rather than Hoffman.
Kent and Drew changed that calculation. Rookie catcher Russell Martin greeted Hoffman with a home run just over the left-field fence, making it 9–8. Marlon Anderson came up next and sent Hoffman’s first pitch just over the fence in right. Four consecutive batters had hit four solo home runs. The score was 9–9, with nobody out. Hoffman then retired Julio Lugo, Andre Ethier and Rafael Furcal on fly balls, keeping the game tied.
The rally had bought the Dodgers another inning, not a victory. In the top of the 10th, San Diego catcher Josh Bard hit a two-out, run-scoring double off Aaron Sele. The Padres again had a lead to protect, this time 10–9.
Bochy turned to Rudy Seanez for the bottom of the inning. He did not like to use Hoffman for more than one inning. “We could have pushed [Hoffman], but I would have felt worse if we had pushed him and something would have happened,” Bochy said after the game.
Seanez walked Kenny Lofton to open the inning. Nomar Garciaparra, who had one hit in five at-bats, followed. With the count at 3–1, Seanez left a pitch over the plate. Garciaparra hit it into the left-field pavilion, dropped his bat and watched. His two-run home run ended the game, 11–10, and put the Dodgers back in first place.
“When I was rounding the bases, I couldn’t wait to get home and hug everybody,” Garciaparra said. “It was like a group hug, because it was a group effort.”