How Don Mattingly decided to pinch run Dee Gordon on Tuesday night.

Dee and Didi

Dee Gordon stole second base as a pinch-runner in the 10th inning of the Dodgers’ 5-3 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday.


Dodgers manager Don Mattingly second-guessed his own decision-making in the 10th inning Tuesday.

With Adrian Gonzalez on first base and Andre Ethier stepping to the plate with two outs, Dee Gordon was available to pinch-run off the Dodgers’ bench. The slow-footed Gonzalez stayed on first base while Josh Collmenter threw two balls to Ethier. Then Gordon came jogging out to pinch run.

What was the manager thinking?

“You like to get (Gordon) in there with nobody out,” Mattingly said, “but when (Ethier) gets (ahead) 2-0, I think if Andre hits the ball in the gap he’s going to score.

“The tough part is the outs. Do I burn (Gordon)? I wrestle with the outs. You just like to make the decision whether you’re going to do it or not. In my mind, I’ve got to make that decision more quickly.”

In the dugout, Mattingly sorts through his thoughts out loud. Bench coach Trey Hillman listens, and “he tells me what he thinks,” Mattingly said.

Hillman didn’t think Gordon should have pinch-run for Gonzalez last night. Mattingly, as the manager sometimes does, overruled his bench coach.

“When it was 2-0, I’m like ‘I’ve got to run him.’ “

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About J.P. Hoornstra

J.P. Hoornstra covers the Dodgers, Angels and Major League Baseball for the Orange County Register, Los Angeles Daily News, Long Beach Press-Telegram, Torrance Daily Breeze, San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Pasadena Star-News, San Bernardino Sun, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, Whittier Daily News and Redlands Daily Facts. Before taking the beat in 2012, J.P. covered the NHL for four years. UCLA gave him a degree once upon a time; when he graduated on schedule, he missed getting Arnold Schwarzenegger's autograph on his diploma by five months.