Game 8: Dodgers 6, Mariners 5.

Howie Kendrick

Howie Kendrick breaks his bat on the game-winning single Tuesday. The hit drove in Jimmy Rollins and Carl Crawford in the bottom of the ninth inning of the Dodgers’ 6-5 win over the Seattle Mariners. (Keith Birmingham/Staff photographer)


Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but the Dodgers beat the Seattle Mariners 6-5 on a walk-off single in their final at-bat. This time it was Howie Kendrick playing the hero. You can read my game story here for the full details of how it went down, and hear Kendrick’s postgame comments here and here.

The box score is here. The photo gallery is here.

Prior to the game I talked to pitcher Yimi Garcia. He explained how his 20-year-old brother Jairo, a pitcher in the Yankees’ farm system, helped him with his slider over the winter. The small change seems to have made a big difference so far.

Since I didn’t get a chance to talk to anyone before deadline, here were the key points in the clubhouse after the game:

• Yasiel Puig was not available for the game. Don Mattingly played it coy in his pregame remarks, hinting that Puig’s hamstring injury was mild enough that he might be able to pinch hit. “That’s what I told you,” Mattingly said after the game. In other words, he was lying. “He was available to look like he could pinch hit.” We’ll see if Puig is feeling well enough to talk about his injury tomorrow. Tonight, if you looked closely, you could even see Puig limping out of the dugout to douse Kendrick with Powerade.

David Huff hasn’t been informed of his fate yet, but he’s hoping for a second start with the Dodgers. “We’ll see what they say. I haven’t heard anything yet. They always keep me in the dark until the last second,” he said. The Dodgers don’t need a fifth starter again until April 25, then not again until May 1.

• Perhaps the main reason Huff started this game, and not Joe Wieland, Mike Bolsinger or Zach Lee, is because Wieland, Bolsinger and Lee were all optioned to Triple-A out of spring training. Because of that, none of the three could be recalled until March 16 per MLB rules. That won’t be an issue the next time the Dodgers need a fifth starter and that doesn’t bode well for Huff.

Andre Ethier said he knew his home run in the sixth inning was a fair ball off the bat. The only question in his mind was whether it had the distance to get over the fence. Ethier must have a really good eye.

Justin Turner was asked if this year’s club is more resilient than last year’s. “That’s hard to compare but I guess if you look at the results the answer is yes, considering how many games we’ve been playing behind and already won,” he said. Turner recalled how the Dodgers almost never won a game they trailed after eight innings last season. Maybe they would have if they had won a few of these early. “I think it creates confidence and expectations for the whole team, knowing that it doesn’t matter how many runs we’re down by — we still have outs left and a chance to win the game,” he said. “See it two nights in a row where you come from behind and end up getting a walk-off hit, it’s contagious and it creates confidence from every guy on the team.”

• Mariners closer Fernando Rodney said he knew Kendrick was going to swing at his first pitch, “but the pitch was up a little bit in the zone and that’s why he took the ball the other way. I tried to throw the sinker in to try and get a ground ball and get out of the inning, but they got me tonight.”