The Los Angeles Dodgers improved to 7-1 on their homestand and have already won all three series, though their latest victory came with a bit of help from the Arizona Diamondbacks.
As New York Yankees starter Corey Kluber was completing his no-hitter, Matt Peacock held the Dodgers without a hit until Max Muncy doubled with one out in the fourth inning. That wound up leading to a run as Yoshi Tsutsugo collected his first hit with the Dodgers on a single.
They still trailed 2-1 heading into the bottom of the seventh, which wound up being a three-run inning. Walks by Chris Taylor and Gavin Lux were followed by an Albert Pujols pop-up into shallow right field going off Pavin Smith’s glove on his attempt at an over-the-shoulder catch.
The single loaded the bases with nobody out, and two batters later Will Smith hit a line drive to right field that skipped off Josh Rojas’ glove. Smith was credited with a sacrifice fly on the play that brought in two runs and gave the Dodgers a lead.
Mookie Betts then provided insurance with an RBI ground-rule double before the Diamondbacks could get out of the inning.
Kershaw goes 6 innings
Like Peacock, Clayton Kershaw also did not allow a hit until one out in the fourth inning. Though, the Diamondbacks still had two baserunners in the game up to that point via a hit by pitch and walk.
The free pass came to Josh Rojas in the fourth and set the table for Eduardo Escobar to break up the scoreless tie with a two-run home run. Kershaw wound up going just six innings due in large part to his spot in the order coming up with the Dodgers trailing.
“I just felt right there he potentially had one more inning left, but we were down so I felt it was time to go to the ‘pen,” manager Dave Roberts explained of his decision after the game.
It didn’t appear to sit particularly well with Kershaw, who finished with eight strikeouts and just the two hits and two runs allowed. “Overall, it was OK,” Kershaw said of his outing. “I only gave up a couple hits. The problem with the outing was the walk to Rojas.”
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