Los Angeles – Brian Fuentes was far from a sure thing in the eighth inning Tuesday night, but Rockies manager Clint Hurdle played a hunch and stuck with him.
Hurdle admitted he contemplated bringing in closer Manny Corpas to get the final out of the inning, but put his faith in Fuentes.
“I mulled it over,” Hurdle said after the Rockies beat the Dodgers 9-7. “But this guy has a basketful of saves. We’ve seen him do this before and he’s gotten out of it. I was just more comfortable leaving the ball in his hands.”
The Dodgers definitely had Fuentes on the ropes. He walked Russell Martin and Andre Ethier to open the inning before giving up an RBI-single to Andy LaRoche that cut Colorado’s lead to 7-6. Fuentes gave up a two-out walk to Juan Pierre to load the bases, before center fielder Ryan Spilborghs rescued him with a sliding catch on Matt Kemp’s line drive to end the inning.
“Fortunately I was able to squeak through and keep us the lead,” Fuentes said. “It meant a lot that Clint stayed with me even when I was struggling. I had confidence I was going to get out of it.”
Corpas, who supplanted Fuentes as the closer earlier this season, suffered through a rocky ninth inning, giving up a homer to Delwyn Young and a double to Ethier before closing the door and picking up his 17th save.
Holliday OK
When Dodgers reliever Scott Proctor beaned Matt Holliday in the eighth inning with a pitch that sailed near Holliday’s head, Holliday looked mighty upset.
After the game, however, Holliday said there was no bad blood.
“(Proctor) called over, I talked to him,” Holliday said. “It’s over.”
Staff Writer Patrick Saunders can be reached at 303-954-1428 or psaunders@denverpost.com.
