DODGERS 9, SAN DIEGO 8: Harang breaks franchise mark with nine consecutive strikouts

DODGERS 9, SAN DIEGO 8: Harang breaks franchise mark with nine consecutive strikouts

Posted:   04/13/2012 10:30:06 PM PDT

Friday will be remembered as the day - probably the only day - that Aaron Harang and Tom Seaver were mentioned in the same breath, over and over again, with a small slice of baseball history at stake.

Harang began his second start of the season by allowing a single to San Diego Padres leadoff man Cameron Maybin. He proceeded to strike out the next nine batters in a row, breaking a 50-year-old franchise record in the process and falling one short of Seaver's all-time record of 10 in a row from 1970.

The right hander's reward for his brief brush with the record books? Nothing.

With two outs in the top of the ninth inning, Chase Headley's two-run home run off Dodgers reliever Kenley Jansen tied the score at 8-8, denying Harang the win. The Dodgers needed four straight walks in the bottom of the inning to pull out a 9-8 victory in walk-off fashion.

"The ninth inning is a different animal," Dodgers catcher A.J. Ellis said. "Things start snowballing. It can be tough. Unfortunately for them tonight, they had the walk bug hit them in the ninth."

The Dodgers won another close game and Andre Ethier - whose bases-loaded walk off Joe Thatcher scored Mark Ellis - had the winning RBI for the third time this week.

Other than that, there was nothing typical about the Dodgers' fourth consecutive victory, improving their record to a major-league best 7-1.

"At the end of the day it's a win," Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said. "It don't matter how you get it."

Well before "Aaron Harang" became a trending topic, another club record seemed more likely to end Friday: No Dodgers home game had been rained out since April 17, 2000, a streak of 972 games that was threatened by inclement weather throughout the morning and afternoon.

Ultimately, it forced the teams to take batting practice indoors, kept a few fans away from the stadium (the announced attendance of 31,601 was surely short of the actual crowd) and chilled the game-time temperature to 54 degrees.

That seemed to have no effect on Harang, who used the dreary conditions to carve out a memorable evening:

His nine strikeouts through the first three innings tied a major-league record shared by Mickey Welch, Sam McDowell, Don Wilson, Sid Fernandez and Randy Johnson (courtesy of the Society of American Baseball Research).

Harang broke the franchise record for consecutive strikeouts, set when Johnny Podres struck out eight straight Philadelphia Phillies on July 2, 1962.

3 innings tied a career high, set Sept. 29, 2007 against the Chicago Cubs.

Harang was given the ball he used to strike out his ninth straight victim, Maybin, to end the third inning. At that point, the crowd stood to cheer; before then, Harang said he wasn't conscious of the record at stake.

When the pitcher came to bat in the fourth inning, he said Padres catcher John Baker told him, "Hey, thanks for making me part of history."

The cold night caught up to Harang as the Dodgers batted around in the bottom of the third inning. They used three walks and two singles to score four runs, giving the pitcher what appeared to be a comfortable lead.

However, Harang began the next inning by throwing three straight balls - none too far off the plate - to Will Venable. Venable took a strike, then drilled a home run over the left-field fence to end the strikeout streak and Harang's shutout bid.

The Dodgers padded their lead with four more runs in the fourth inning, highlighted by a two-run home run by Matt Kemp, to make it 8-3.

Harang didn't run into trouble again until the seventh, around the time he hit the 100-pitch mark. After the right-hander walked John Baker, Todd Coffey sprinted in from the Dodger bullpen only to allow a single, a double, and hit Maybin with a pitch.

Scott Elbert relieved Coffey - who didn't record an out - and issued a bases-loaded walk to Jesus Guzman for the Padres' sixth run.

Pitching the ninth inning in place of Javy Guerra, Jansen issued a leadoff walk to Chris Denorfia, then struck out Andy Parrino and Kyle Blanks - the 17 th and 18 th Padres batters to strike out in the game, tying a Dodger club record - before surrendering the home run to Headley.

Jansen (2-0) blew the save but wound up the winning pitcher after Ellis, Kemp and Loney drew two-out walks off San Diego reliever Andrew Cashner in the bottom of the ninth. Thatcher relived Cashner and issued four straight balls to Ethier, who drove in his major-league leading 13 th run of the season.

DODGERS NOTEBOOK: Bankruptcy court OKs sale of team

Posted:   04/13/2012 10:22:44 PM PDT

A federal bankruptcy court approved the sale of the Dodgers to a group including Magic Johnson.

The sale to Guggenheim Baseball Partners LLC was first announced March 27 and is expected to close April 30 - the day outgoing owner Frank McCourt is to make a $131million payment to former wife Jamie as part of their divorce.

"We are pleased to have successfully concluded the Chapter 11 reorganization process," the Dodgers said in a statement. "All the organization's goals in the reorganization cases have been achieved. We look forward to returning all of our attention to Dodger baseball."

Friday's decision came as little surprise, even though two objections - one by Major League Baseball, another by Fox - were filed with the court overseeing the process Tuesday. The decision was handed down by U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Kevin Gross in Wilmington, Del.

Johnson didn't attend the hearing but Stan Kasten, a member of the Guggenheim group, did along with McCourt, according to multiple reports.

The Associated Press reported lawyers for the Dodgers and MLB sparred over the information being given to the league about the plan.

An MLB lawyer said the league had issues with the plan and is owed more information. A Dodgers lawyer said the team has met all the criteria to have the plan confirmed, and the judge agreed.

Lilly on track

It was only six days ago that Ted Lilly made a minor-league rehabilitation start, but he has been hearing it from teammates in the Dodgers' clubhouse.

"I get a lot of questions from the other guys, like, `When are you going to play?"' Lilly said.

The left-hander, who tossed six innings for Single-A Rancho Cucamonga on April 8, is set to come off the disabled list and make his season debut today against San Diego.

Lilly said his neck felt "really good" Friday and that the rehab start "confirmed the fact that I felt healthy enough to pitch" when the season began.

In six innings against the Inland Empire 66ers, Lilly allowed two home runs, including a grand slam. His final line was poor - six innings, eight hits, seven runs, six earned runs, no walks and two strikeouts - but that didn't bother Dodgers manager Don Mattingly.

"To me, those numbers are like spring training numbers," Mattingly said. "Two of 'em, he felt were fly balls that would've been outs. I've seen many pitchers go down and get beat up in Triple-A and A ball."

Gordon rests

Dee Gordon was stunned, if not outright offended, when asked if he requested a day off Friday.

The answer was a resounding "no" - but Gordon got a day off anyway, the first time this season the 23-year-old shortstop has begun a game on the bench. Rookie Justin Sellers got his first start of the season.

"He hit some fly balls yesterday, kind of not his game, and this guy (Padres starter Clayton Richard) is tough on lefties," Mattingly said.

"It just tells me that he was a little off his game, so today seemed the right day for him. Giving him a mental day off is good for him."

Award show

Prior to the game, Golden Glove awards were presented to Clayton Kershaw, Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier. Kemp also was presented with the Silver Slugger award and the Mel Ott award (for leading the National League in home runs).

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