Game Report: Snakes v. Cards, April 14, 2009

No Arizona player would have been better to come to the plate in the situation. Down by a 4-3 score in the eighth, runners on first and second bases, Arizona on a nasty grip of play. With two outs and the pitcher's spot up, Conor Jackson was called on to pinch hit.

The tension in the team had built in the months since Manny joined the Dodgers, through the end of 2008, over a frustrating off-season, during a loser of a spring, and well into the second week of the 2009 campaign. Hands, jaws and bellies all clenched.

How tightly wound were the Snakes, at three games below .500 despite playing their third consecutive home series? They were coiled, but not like Diamondbacks ready to strike. No, they were in a box, getting poked with a stick for their eighth game in a row.

LOVE DON'T GRIP.

Good thing Jackson is a flow player. There is a fluidity to his stance and the path of his bat that defies the paralyzing effects of pressure. He stands tall in the batter's box and swings his hips...

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Tags: Albert Pujols, Augie Ojeda, Brad Thompson, Brian Barden, Chad Qualls, Conor Jackson, Eric Byrnes, Felipe Lopez, Justin Upton, Khalil Greene, Mark Reynolds, St. Louis Cardinals, Stephen Drew, Tony Pena, Yadier Molina