4/6/84: Dodgers waste 14 hits, Thompson's blast off Niedenfuer rallies Pirates in 9th, 4-2

The Dodgers ran and pitched their way out of a sure win in front of the Chavez Ravine faithful, as they squandered a 14-hit attack with a couple of caught stealing blunders and a climatic 9th inning collapse when Jason Thompson blasted a 3-run homer off future post-season goat Tom Niedenfuer to give Pittsburgh a 4-2 comeback win.

The Dodgers scored single runs in the 3rd and 4th for a 2-0 lead, but a pair of caught stealing blunders by Ken Landreaux and Pedro Guerrero were just the tip of the iceberg. 14 Dodger hits eventually led to 10 runners left on base. The Pirates were stacking hits and leaving baserunners as well, 12 hits led to 13 runners left on base, but starting in the 8th, the Bucs made the Dodgers hit their tipping point. 

A leadoff walk by Amos Otis and double by Tony Pena put Pirates on 2nd and 3rd, which led to after careful consideration, pulling Dodger starter Bob Welch for Tom Niedenfuer. Nidednfuer retired Doug Frobel on a slow roller to 1st, scoring Otis, then after Dale Berra was intentionally placed at 1st with Pena at 3rd, Niedenfuer got PH Lee Mazzilli to line to 2nd and struck Marvell Wynne looking. 

In the Pirate 9th, Johnnie Ray doubled to lead off, then reached 3rd when Steve Sax bobbled Bill Madlock's grounder. Then came Thompson and a loud clap of "Thunder", blasting a Neidenfuer mistake clear to Long Beach. Cecilio Guante, who relieved starter John Tudor in the 8th, got the win with a perfect 9th inning. Madlock had 4 singles on the evening and by virtue of reaching on that Sax error, scored the winning run on Thompson's homer.

PIT 4-12-0 LAD 2-14-2 WP-Guante LP-Niedenfuer HR-Thompson (1) GWRBI-Thompson (1) PIT 2-1 LAD 2-1


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