In the top half of the seventh inning of Wednesday night’s interleague game between the Dodgers and the Oakland A’s, Dodgers second baseman Howie Kendrick made a rare error – a huge error. With no outs and runners on first and second, A’s right fielder Josh Reddick hit a hard grounder to Kendrick that had double play written all over it. Kendrick fielded the ball cleanly but as he was transferring the ball to his throwing hand, he dropped it. Kendrick’s error loaded the bases with no outs instead of having a runner at third with two outs.

Whereas the Dodgers may have difficulty scoring with the bases loaded, the A’s do not. When the third out was finally recorded, the last place A’s had turned a 3-2 deficit into a commanding 6-3 lead, and for the first time since May 30, it appeared that the Dodgers were going to fall out of first place in the NL West.

Puig’s laser-shot two-run home run in the fourth inning gave the Dodgers a 3-1 lead, which they gave up in the seventh inning after Kendrick’s costly error. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

But then something unusual happened – rare, in fact. The Dodgers did exactly what they needed to do to mount a genuine comeback – they actually got men on base.

After Alex Guerrero led off the inning with a strikeout, pinch-hitter Scott Van Slyke drew a walk. Jimmy Rollins then popped out to A’s second baseman Eric Sogard bringing Kendrick to the plate. Being down by three runs even a home run wouldn’t help. What they needed was base runners – especially Howie Kendrick, as this would bring the tying run to the plate still with two outs.

Ever the professional, Kendrick worked a 1-2 count into an extremely crucial six-pitch walk off of A’s right-hander Fernando Rodriguez. It wasn’t sexy, it wasn’t exciting, but it was exactly what the Dodgers needed to bring Adrian Gonzalez to the plate representing the tying run.

A’s manager Bob Melvin opted to bring in left-hander Drew Pomeranz to face the left-handed hitting Gonzalez. But instead of getting him out, Gonzalez lined a ball off the center field wall for a double, scoring Van Slyke and sending Kendrick to third base.

Kendrick’s two-out walk in the bottom of the seventh inning was absolutely huge, as it gave the Dodgers the baserunners needed to mount a comeback. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

Dodgers manager Don Mattingly then brought in Kiké Hernandez to pinch-hit for pitcher Pedro Baez and he, too, laced a line drive into the left-center field gap scoring Kendrick and Gonzalez to give the Dodgers a 7-6 lead. After yet another pitching change, Dodgers right fielder Yasiel Puig, who was celebrating his bobblehead night and who had hit a two-run home run in the fourth inning, singled in Hernandez but was thrown out at second base trying to stretch his single into a double, thus ending the inning. The Dodgers had scored five runs – all with two outs – to take an 8-6 lead into the eighth inning.

Dodgers right-hander Joel Peralta pitched a scoreless eighth and the Dodgers added two more runs in the bottom of the eighth on a two-out, two RBI single by… you guessed it… Howie Kendrick to give Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen a 10-6 lead to work with in the top of the ninth. And although Jansen allowed a one-out solo home run to A’s third baseman Brett Lawrie, he managed to seal the deal by getting Sogard to ground out and A’s shortstop Marcus Semien to fly out to left field to end the game and keep the Dodgers in first place, albeit by a mere half game.

Although Puig gets credit for driving in three runs on the night and Hernandez with his huge two-RBI double for the game-winning hit, it was the uneventful six-pitch walk by Kendrick that allowed Gonzalez, Hernandez and Puig to come to the plate.

And that’s Howie do things in LA.