April 30, 2003: Éric Gagné saves another Dodgers win, 4-0 over Phillies

From August 2002 through July 2004, Los Angeles Dodgers relief pitcher Éric Gagné was a model of consistency. Summoned from the bullpen to hold Dodgers leads 84 times during that two year stretch, he was successful each time. Gagné became so automatic during the all-time record streak that when he entered games at Dodger Stadium, the words GAME OVER flashed on the scoreboard.1

A French-speaking junior hockey player from Montreal, Gagné attended high school at the city’s Polyvalente Édouard Monpetit to play baseball. He was selected in the 30th round of the 1994 amateur draft by the Chicago White Sox, but in lieu of signing he chose to develop his baseball skills at Seminole Junior College in Oklahoma. During his year in Oklahoma, he taught himself to speak English and became the star pitcher for Seminole’s baseball team.2

In July 1995 Gagné inked a deal with the Dodgers as an amateur free agent. In September 1999 he joined the starting rotation in Los Angeles, and by the close of the 2021 season had accumulated an 11-14 record with a 4.61 ERA.

In spring training 2002, the Dodgers moved Gagné to the bullpen. On April 11 Los Angeles held a 4-3 lead in the ninth over the San Francisco Giants with Gagné on the mound and veteran Jesse Orosco warming in the bullpen. When Barry Bonds stepped to the plate with one out and a runner on first, manager Jim Tracy went to the mound intending to remove Gagné in favor of left-hander Orosco. “It was the only trip I’ve made to the mound and didn’t take the guy out,” Tracy said. “I looked into his eyes and it was like, ‘If you take me out, there’s going to be a conversation in the clubhouse about this.’”3

Gagné walked Bonds but retired Jeff Kent and Reggie Sanders to save the game. The next day Tracy announced Gagné as the club’s new closer. The quintessential streak began on August 28 with a one-inning save in the Dodgers’ 1-0 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.4

Gagné was entrenched in the early stages of his streak when the Philadelphia Phillies visited Los Angeles on April 30, 2003. The Dodgers were aiming to avoid their first losing record in April since 1994. After an uneven start to their season, they had won four of their last five games and boosted their record to 13-14. Gagne had received a save in seven of the 13 wins.

Dodgers starter Odalis Pérez was seeking his first win in his fifth start of 2003. A 2002 All-Star with a 15-10 record and a 3.00 ERA, the 24-year-old lefty was making his first appearance at home and second since sitting out two weeks with a sprained ankle.

The Phillies were off to a respectable 16-11 start, but manager Larry Bowa was not happy with the team’s offensive production. “It’s been a combination of good pitching and bad hitting,” said Bowa. “We’ve had some terrible at-bats. That combination doesn’t bode too well. We need some guys to step it up offensively.”5

Pérez looked in All-Star form as he retired 13 of the first 14 Philadelphia batters. During that stretch, he induced eight groundball outs and struck out four. The only Phillies player to reach base was left fielder Pat Burrell, who stroked a line-drive single to center on a two-strike pitch with two outs in the second inning.

Vicente Padilla, Pérez’s teammate on the 2002 All-Star team, was the starter for the Phillies. Following up his 14-win 2002 campaign, the 25-year-old Padilla was pitching for his fourth win of the season. After he retired the Dodgers in order in the first inning, first baseman Fred McGriff  led off the second. McGriff had faced Padilla six times previously and was 4-for-5 with a walk. On the second offering from Padilla, he lofted a fly to deep right that cleared the wall and put the Dodgers on top 1-0. It was McGriff’s third homer of the season and the 481st of his career.

Padilla matched zeros with Pérez into the fifth, when the Phillies mounted their first threat. With one out, Burrell and Tomás Pérez (no relation to Dodgers pitcher Odalis) hit back-to-back singles to left. Odalis Pérez left the runners stranded by striking out Marlon Byrd (who was playing for the first time since he went on the disabled list on April 14) and Padilla to end the inning.

The score remained 1-0 when the Dodgers came to bat in the bottom of the sixth. Paul Lo Duca grounded a single up the middle and Shawn Green walked. With McGriff due up, Phillies pitching coach Joe Kerrigan and catcher Mike Lieberthal walked to the mound to confer with Padilla. McGriff, who had grounded to shortstop to lead off the fourth, hit a foul pop to third for the second out.

Twenty-four-year-old third baseman Adrián Beltré, who was playing his sixth season with the Dodgers, stepped to the plate. He had struck out in his first two at-bats and was hitless in five plate appearances against Padilla. Beltré smoked a 3-and-1 pitch over the center-field wall for a three-run homer, his fourth of the season and his second in two days. “We got behind Beltré 3-and-1 and his home run was on a fastball down the middle,” Lieberthal said. “It was meant to be a little away.”6

The Dodgers were on top 4-0 as the seventh inning began. Odalis Pérez fanned Burrell and generated two more groundball outs, wrapped around a walk to Jim Thome, the only free pass Pérez issued. In the eighth, Byrd and pinch-hitter Jason Michaels led off with back-to-back singles, but Jimmy Rollins and David Bell struck out and Bobby Abreu grounded out to first.

Phillies relievers – Terry Adams in the seventh and Turk Wendell in the eighth – each allowed a baserunner but held the Dodgers scoreless. 

Odalis Pérez returned to begin the ninth. Lieberthal worked the count to 2-and-2, then drove a line-drive single to right center. Thome and Burrell struck out, but Tomás Pérez stroked a grounder up the middle for his second hit of the game. Tracy strolled to the mound, took the ball from Odalis Pérez, and signaled for Gagné.

Pérez covered his face with his glove as Tracy reached the mound. “He was upset,” catcher Lo Duca said. “But Trace did the right thing. Anytime you have a Gagné, you want to go to him in that situation.”7 On his third pitch, Gagne retired pinch-hitter Ricky Ledée on a foul popup. Gagné’s eighth save, and 16th straight dating back to 2002, preserved the 4-0 Dodgers win. It was the first of only four instances during Gagné’s streak in which he was credited with a save while recording fewer than three outs.

The Dodgers avoided a losing April and evened their record at 14-14. In his postgame comments, Tracy singled out Beltré’s home run. “When we get a little extra offense from him, it’s the answer to our situation,” he said.8 The Phillies’ record dropped to 16-12 and Bowa lamented another shutout loss, saying, “In our last four games, we’ve scored six runs and we’re 2-2. We’re lucky. We should be 0-4.”9

Gagné converted all 55 save opportunities in 2003,10 the consummate season in his record streak, and became only the second Canadian pitcher to win a Cy Young Award.11 The day after the award was announced, a huge Canadian flag was raised beyond Dodger Stadium’s center-field fence to honor him. A grateful Gagné said, “It’s so good for baseball in Montreal and Québec and all of Canada.”12

Acknowledgments

This article was fact-checked by Thomas J. Brown Jr. and copy-edited by Len Levin.

Photo credit: Eric Gagné, Trading Card Database.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet.org for pertinent information, including the box score and play-by-play.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/LAN/LAN200304300.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2003/B04300LAN2003.htm

Notes

1 Lisa Altobelli, “Eric Gagné,” Sports Illustrated Vault (June 4, 2007), https://vault.si.com/vault/2007/06/04/eric-gagn.

2 “Eric Gagné, Official Athletics Site of Seminole State College, 2018, accessed April 23, 2024, https://seminole.prestosports.com/sports/bsb/past-players/bios/gagneeric?view=bio.

3 Elliott Teaford, “Cy Magnifique,” Los Angeles Times, November 14, 2003: D1.

4 The run continued until July 5, 2004, when Gagné surrendered two runs in the ninth inning against Arizona, tying the score in a game won by the Dodgers in the 10th.

5 Todd Zolecki, “Dodgers’ Pérez Silences Phillies,” Philadelphia Inquirer, May 1, 2003: D5.

6 John Nadel (Associated Press), “Lefty Silences Phillies’ Bats,” York (Pennsylvania) Dispatch, May 1, 2003: B1.

7 Mike DiGiovana, “Tracy Plays It Safe With Pérez as Dodgers Shut Out Phillies,” Los Angeles Times, May 1, 2003: D1.

8 Mike DiGiovana.

9 John Nadel, “Lefty Silences Phillies’ Bats.”

10 Gagne’s 55 saves tied the NL record for saves, set by John Smoltz in 2002. As of 2024, Gagné and Smoltz still shared the NL record. See https://stathead.com/tiny/d38Kl.

11 Chatham, Ontario, native Ferguson Jenkins won the Cy Young Award in 1971. Gagné also won the 2003 James “Tip” O’Neill Award, presented annually to the Canadian player judged to have excelled in individual achievement and team contribution while adhering to baseball’s highest ideals. See https://baseballhalloffame.ca/james-tip-oneill-award/.

12 Elliott Teaford, “Cy Magnifique.”