The Dodgers Defeat Arizona for a Much Needed Win

The night began rather ominously for Dave Roberts and the Dodgers, in an attempt to end a four-game slide. The game started off with a run, but the good mood was dampened nearly immediately.

Left groin strain for Ryu.

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— AlaNNa Rizzo (@alannarizzo) May 3, 2018

Hyun-jin Ryu made it just four outs into the game before he had to depart. He came of the mound looking very awkwardly in the middle of an at-bat, and Dave Roberts came out with a training staff. After trying to stretch on the field for a moment, it was clear Ryu’s night was done.

And thus, the game had to be handed off to the shaky Dodgers’ bullpen. The bullpen who has accumulated an earned run average north of eight over the past eight games. A bullpen that has repeatedly let the team and it’s fans down and caused many a panic attack.

Pedro Baez was the first man out of the bullpen, which has not been a good sign at all in 2018. And yet, he absolutely dominated. Baez pitched a total of 2.2 innings and threw a career-high 42 pitches. he allowed two hits and struck out four en route to a fantastic performance. His fans are back…momentarily.

Daniel Hudson, Tony Cingrani, and  Josh Fields came in to carry the team into the ninth inning. All three of them held the Diamondbacks scoreless, combining for just two hits and five strikeouts. That set up Kenley Jansen for the ninth inning, where every Dodgers fan held their breath.

Jansen was touching the mid-90’s, but still got touched up. After getting two easy outs, he walked Daniel Descalso with two outs. Then he gave up a base hit to Murphy with two strikes. Alex Avila followed with a flyout to close out the game, thankfully.

Moments That Mattered

Alex Verdugo is having himself one heck of a call-up, no matter how brief it ends up being. The kid stroked two doubles in this game, and scored both runs for Los Angeles. He also advanced to third in the eighth on a risky play. That aggressive base running resulted in a run scored on a sacrifice fly. He just may be the spark plug this team needs right now.