An expected duel between Rich Hill and Robbie Ray did not play out as such, and the Los Angeles Dodgers once more held off a late rally by the Arizona Diamondbacks, hanging on for a 8-5 win in Game 2 of the National League Division Series. The win put the Dodgers one step closer to advancing.
Three days removed from throwing 34 pitches in the NL Wild Card Game, Robbie Ray deemed himself healthy and capable of pitching to his usual standards. But the southpaw struggled with command and walked four batters through three innings.
Despite not allowing a hit up to that point, the Dodgers scratched a run across in the second on Yasiel Puig’s groundout, which came after a Ray wild pitch. Logan Forsythe broke up Ray’s no-hitter with a one-out single in the fourth inning.
It marked the start of a small flurry, with Austin Barnes and Yasiel Puig each knocking a single to load the bases. A wild pitch allowed Forsythe to score, and Chris Taylor’s RBI infield single later gave the Dodgers a 3-2 lead with two outs.
Ray hit Turner with a pitch to start the bottom of the fifth and gave way to Jimmie Sherfy with one out in the inning. The wheels then came off for the Diamondbacks. With a runner at second base, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts pinch-hit Curtis Granderson for Kiké Hernandez.
Granderson roped a base hit into right field and slid into second when J.D. Martinez’s throw went to third. Forsythe’s RBI single padded the lead, Barnes hit a two-run double and Puig’s run-scoring base hit put the Diamondbacks in a 7-2 deficit.
Hill was squeezed by home plate umpire Phil Cuzzi for much of his outing, which only lasted four innings. Paul Goldschmidt’s home run in the first inning, which followed a walk that Hill didn’t get borderline pitches to go his way, gave the Diamondbacks a 2-0 lead.
Hill worked around a leadoff single in the second, stranded a pair of runners in the third, and struck out a pair in a 1-2-3 fourth inning.
After scoreless work from Tony Cingrani and Kenta Maeda, much of the Dodgers’ comfortable lead was erased on one crack of the bat from Brandon Drury. He greeted Brandon Morrow with a three-run homer in the seventh, with the runs charged to Tony Watson.
Kenley Jansen entered with a runner at second base and one out in the eighth and proceeded to convert a five-out save opportunity. The Dodgers’ 2-0 lead in the NLDS is their first since 2009, when they swept the St. Louis Cardinals.
