Dodgers Defeat Diamondbacks With a Little Bit of Luck

Let’s face it. We are all pretty tired of the Dodgers playing the Diamondbacks this year. Most people know every fact there is to know about every player on that team. Your average Dodgers fan could probably give a Major League scouting report on every Arizona player at this point. The good news is that we will not have to see them for quite some time. After playing them twelve times this season, Los Angeles and Arizona will not meet again until the last week of August. The Dodgers got the best of the snakes in the final meetup until then.

But the game got a rather ominous start.

Inside-the-park homer for Nick Ahmed. #Dbacks lead 1-0 in the first.

— AlaNNa Rizzo (@alannarizzo) May 10, 2018

The very first play of the game led many to believe it was going to be another rough night for the Dodger faithful. Nick Ahmed blasted a ball off of the wall in centerfield, which Kiké Hernandez crashed into very hard. Luckily, that would be the only run allowed by Alex Wood. He finished up with five innings pitched and allowed five hits. Wood struck out four but was abnormally wild last night, allowing three free-passes to Arizona hitters.

The bullpen got the game for four innings, and JT Chargois was the only one who got into any trouble. A few walks, bloop hits, and bad plays resulted in a two-run seventh inning. Pedro Baez, Scott Alexander, and Kenley Jansen pitched a combined 3.1 innings and only allowed one hit. The Dodgers could not be happier to see Alexander do well, as he was recently sent down to the minor leagues to work on mechanics.

The offense got going in the fourth inning with a little bit of luck. After Chris Taylor singled, a series of walks set up the Dodgers with the bases loaded and two outs. A wild pitch by Patrick Corbin got the game tied up. In the sixth inning, it was more of that same luck. Thre singles got the bases loaded and the Dodgers took the lead on a sacrifice fly from Kyle Farmer. Los Angeles then scored two more runs on a hit-by-pitch and a wild pitch. Not the ideal way to get your runs, but at this point, we’ll take it.

Chase Utley buried the dagger in the eighth inning with a pinch-hit double to drive in two runs.

Moments That Mattered

Yasiel Puig returned from the disabled list and was a big part of the action in Wednesday night’s game. Puig singled three times in four at-bats and scored two runs. He brought his average up to 217, which shows you just how poorly he was performing prior to being placed on the DL.

Kenley Jansen came on to close out the ninth and did not allow anything at all. He retired the top of the order on nine pitches, six of which were for strikes. For a guy that has struggled all year, this is certainly a good sign from the big man. Especially considering he was able to consistently throw strikes.

Analysis

The Dodgers will now face the Reds at home for a four-game series beginning tonight. The undefeated Walker Buehler gets the ball tonight against a team that is 10-27 on the year. Time to make up some ground.