Yu Darvish struggled to get ahead of batters and allowed his first runs with the Los Angeles Dodgers, yet still managed to record 10 strikeouts and improve to 2-0 with his new team. Los Angeles avoided losing their first series since dropping two of three to the Washington Nationals from June 5-7.
The Diamondbacks managed to seven baserunners (five hits, two walks) against Darvish over six innings, but were a meager 2-for-12 with seven strikeouts in such situations. David Peralta’s RBI infield single in the third got the Diamondbacks on the board, and J.D. Martinez’s solo home run in the fourth inning further cut into the Dodgers’ lead.
Darvish issued a leadoff walk in the fifth, then proceeded to strike out the next three batters. He capped off the impressive outing by catching Paul Goldschmidt looking. It was the third time on the night that the All-Star first baseman struck out against Darvish, and he fell to 0-for-6 with six strikeouts in his career.
Diamondbacks rookie Anthony Banda quickly found himself in trouble after allowing one-out singles to Corey Seager and Justin Turner in the first inning. He later walked Logan Forsythe to load the bases with two outs.
Kiké Hernandez added to his impressive resume against left-handed pitching this season by pulling a bases-clearing double down the left-field line. The extra-base hit was his 20th (nine doubles, two triples and nine home runs) in 126 plate appearances against southpaws this year.
With their lead cut to one run, the Dodgers responded in the sixth with their second three-run inning of the game. Chris Taylor lit the spark by jumping on Jake Barrett’s first offering for a solo home run.
Then with Seager standing on second base, Cody Bellinger hitter a tapper in front of the plate that Chris Iannetta threw away, allowing Seager to score. Austin Barnes’ two-out RBI single extended the Dodgers’ lead to 6-2.
Turner drove a changeup from Jorge De La Rosa off the center-field wall for a two-run double in the sixth. That proved to be key, as Brock Stewart surrendered a two-run home run to Chris Iannetta in the bottom half of the inning.
Brandon Morrow then allowed a two-run single to Ketel Marte in the eighth. Tony Cingrani struck out pinch-hitter Gregor Polanco and Peralta to strand Marte and preserve the Dodgers’ lead. Kenley Jansen retired the side in order on seven pitches to record his 30th save this season.
