NewsLA native Ramos helps deny Dodgers
Padres rook shines in first start; Kouz plates go-ahead run
By Corey Brock / MLB.com
09/30/09 2:00 AM ET
SAN DIEGO -- By his own estimation, Cesar Ramos figures he attended every Dodgers home opener from the time he was 8 to 18, which meant that a shift in plans from where he normally was supposed to be on those sun-splashed afternoons."Oh yeah, I would skip classes to be there," Ramos said, almost proudly. "... That was something I wouldn't miss. They [Ramos' parents] understood. They're Dodgers fans."
On Tuesday night, with the Dodgers on the cusp of a National League West title, it was Ramos, a rookie left-handed pitcher from Pico Rivera (East Los Angeles), who kept the Dodgers from champagne by turning them in knots.
Ramos allowed one run in five-plus innings and the bullpen did the rest as the Padres hung a 3-1 loss on the Dodgers before a crowd of 25,318 at PETCO Park, many of whom came rooting loudly for the boys in blue and instead left, well, feeling blue.
Kevin Kouzmanoff, who missed the past 17 games with a strained calf and later tightness in his back, broke a tie with an RBI single in the sixth inning, while relievers Ryan Webb (2-0), Luke Gregerson, Joe Thatcher, Mike Adams and Heath Bell covered the final four innings.
The Padres (73-85) continued their late-season push -- they are 35-23 since July 28 -- and they sustained another trend of making life tough on playoff-contending teams, this time the Dodgers (93-65), who will have to wait until at least Wednesday's series finale to win the NL West.
To be clear, Ramos took no pride in waylaying the Dodgers' playoff push. In fact, if he wasn't with the Padres, he might have found the results of this game downright disheartening. He wasn't just a Dodgers fan growing up, he was an avid fan, covering the 10 minutes from his home in Pico Rivera to Dodger Stadium in no time flat.
"I've been to way too many Dodgers games," said Ramos, who walked three, struck out two and allowed four hits, using a big curveball and a 92-mph fastball, both pitches that he was able to bury in the strike zone.
"But I'm a Padre now."
The Padres turned three double plays, including a 4-3-6-5 one in the first inning after Ramos allowed the first two batters of the game to reach base. In the third inning, with two runners on, he battled Andre Ethier during a 13-pitch at-bat before getting a ground ball to end the inning.
"What I liked was he kept the ball down for the most part," Padres manager Bud Black said. "Tonight, I thought he threw some good fastballs and curveballs down. All in all, it was a great outing against a team he grew up rooting for."
The Padres got their first run Tuesday from an unlikely source, as Tony Gwynn turned on a 1-0 fastball in on the hands from Dodgers starter Chad Billingsley (12-11), sending it just inside the foul pole for a 1-0 lead. It was Gwynn's second home run of the season.
"Sometimes the squirrel gets a nut," Gwynn joked.
The Friars broke a tie in the sixth inning, when Kouzmanoff, in his third at-bat of the game, lined a single up the middle to score David Eckstein. A third run scored in the seventh inning on a wild pitch by Dodgers reliever Hong-Chih Kuo.
"I was a little nervous before the game," Kouzmanoff said. "I haven't sat out three weeks before. I'm glad to be back out there. It's nice to help the team win."
That was enough for what might well qualify as one of the best bullpens currently going in the game.
Webb worked a scoreless sixth inning, Gregerson got two outs in the seventh before the left-handed Thatcher struck out pinch-hitter Jim Thome with the tying run on first base. Adams struck out two of the three hitters he faced in the eighth, while Bell struck out the side in the ninth inning for his 41st save.
Corey Brock is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
