Spring Training Recap: Dodgers Score Early, Then Rely On Anderson
Ellis continued his stellar day by hitting an RBI double that bounced off the top of the left field and the Dodgers led, 3-0. Anderson got his first 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the fourth by striking out Tomas and getting Hill and David Peralta to ground out.
Andrew Chafin replaced Lopez for Arizona in the top of the fifth and quickly struck out Rollins and retired Puig on a grounder. The 24-year-old right-hander then lost his command, allowing a single to Gonzalez and issuing a walk to Kendrick, before retiring Crawford on a groundout to second.
Anderson returned in the bottom of the fifth and hit Gosewisch in the foot with a big breaking ball with one out. But as he did all day, the 27-year-old lefty got out of the inning unscathed after Jordan Pacheco hit into a 4-6-3 double play.
Chafin made quick work of Uribe, Pederson and Ellis in the sixth by retiring them in order, with Ellis striking out to end the inning. The Diamondbacks continued to struggle with runners on base in the bottom of the inning.
After a bunt single by Inciarte with one out, Cliff Pennington grounded into Arizona’s third double play against Anderson to cap off a fine day by the Dodgers’ starter. Kiké Hernandez padded the lead for the Dodgers in the seventh with an RBI singled that scored Darwin Barney from second base and gave the Dodgers a 4-0 lead.
Mike Adams took over in the seventh inning and quickly found himself in trouble. His first pitch hit Tomas on the right hand area and the next batter reached on an infield single. Another single loaded the bases with no outs and Evans hit a two-RBI base hit to cut the Diamondbacks’ deficit to 4-2.
Adams struck out the next batter for the first out of the inning. Then with runners on the corners, he induced a 5-4-3 double play to get out of trouble and keep the Dodgers ahead, 4-2. Adam Liberatore retired the two batters he faced in the eighth, then handed the ball over to Pedro Baez.
The hard-throwing right-hander hit the outside corner against Danny Worth for called strike three and the Dodgers carried a 4-2 lead to the ninth inning. Delvis Morales reached in the ninth on a bunt single and Hernandez hit a two-out single, however the Dodgers were unable to capitalize.
Paco Rodriguez took over for the Dodgers in the bottom of the ninth and retired the side in order to close out the 4-2 win.
[divide]Sergio Santos Discusses Possibility Of Closing For Dodgers
