Manny Ramirez makes his last opportunity count in Dodgers’ 1-0 victory over Cardinals

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Isn’t that what’s great about baseball?

There’s always another game, another at-bat, another chance.

Manny Ramirez had been having himself one miserable stretch of late, and possibly even a worse night.

He came into Tuesday’s game having not driven in a run the first week of June. He was batting .208 in that stretch. A cleanup hitter who in those 25 at-bats couldn’t stumble upon a single RBI.

And then came Tuesday night, Hiroki Kuroda and Chris Carpenter locked up in a scoreless pitching duel.

Twice, Manny came to the plate with a chance to drive in a run, twice he failed. After Andre Ethier doubled to lead off the fourth, he grounded out. When Ethier doubled again in the sixth, Manny lined out to third.

Ah, but there came another at-bat, another opportunity. And this time he came through.

With Carpenter finally out of the game, Manny came to the plate in the eighth in the still scoreless contest with runners at first and second.

He lined a hit off Trever Miller just hard enough to exceed the outreached glove of Ryan Ludwick in the right-field corner for a double to drive in the game’s only run.

From goat to hero, with one simple swing of the bat.

Jonathan Broxton, pitching on his bobblehead night, threw a scoreless ninth to preserve the 1-0 victory and earn his 15th save.

It was the third 1-0 victory for the Dodgers in the first nine games of their homestand. With four games remaining, they are 7-2 on the homestand.

-- Steve Dilbeck