The Los Angeles Dodgers opened the unofficial second half of the 2016 season on the road as they faced the Arizona Diamondbacks in the first of a three-game set. The weekend set is part of a nine-game road trip Los Angeles is on.
Diamondbacks southpaw Patrick Corbin got off to a hot start as he struck out Howie Kendrick and Corey. Justin Turner picked up where he left off in the first half, clubbing a solo home run to give the Dodgers an early lead.
Adrian Gonzalez extended the inning by drawing a walk but it didn’t amount to anything as Yasiel Puig was called out on strikes after getting ahead 3-0 in the count. Puig disagreed with the strike three call, which appeared to be inside off the plate.
Bud Norris started the bottom of the first with a strikeout and proceeded to retire the next two batters faced. Corbin fared much better in the second inning as he retired the side in order.
Jake Lamb led off the bottom of the second with a single to right field, then went first to third base on Chris Herrmann’s one-out single to left. Norris escaped the jam unscathed however, as Yasmany Tomas grounded into an inning-ending 5-4-3 double play.
Two batters after Norris reached on a Lamb error to start the third, Seager doubled to put a pair of runners in scoring position with one out. Turner grounded to third, which resulted in Lamb committing his second error of the inning and allowing a run to come across.
Turner advanced to second base on a wild pitch, but him and Seager were stranded as Gonzalez and Puig struck out. Corbin reached on an infield single and Nick Ahmed followed with a base hit to right field to give the Diamondbacks runners on the corners with none out.
After Ahmed stole second base, Michael Bourn hit a two-run triple that tied the game. Paul Goldschmidt’s RBI groundout then gave the Diamondbacks a 3-2 lead. Norris caught a bad break as he got Lamb to strike out, but he reached as the ball got by Yasmani Grandal.
Welington Castillo extended the inning with a base hit before Norris could record the third out after throwing 37 pitches and allowing three runs in the frame. The Dodgers quickly went to work on erasing their deficit with Van Slyke and Grandal combining for consecutive singles in the fourth with no outs.
Chris Taylor drove a hanging breaking ball from Corbin to deep center field for a two-run triple. Taylor then scored on Kendrick’s one-out RBI single that extended the Dodgers’ lead to 5-3.
Corbin proceeded to walk Seager and Turner to load the bases with one out. Puig lined a two-run single into center field but was thrown out attempting to advance to second base. Although that ended the inning, the Dodgers held a 7-3 lead.
Norris responded nicely to his rough third inning by picking up a strikeout and retiring the side in order in the fourth on just 12 pitches. Taylor doubled with two outs in the fifth inning and scored on Norris’ base hit to left field.
Kendrick singled to right to keep the inning alive and knock Dominic Leone out of the game after only managing to record two outs. Edwin Escobar retired Seager to hold the Dodgers to the one run in the inning.
Goldschmidt reached with two outs on an infield single and easily stole second base. That paid off as Lamb’s RBI single trimmed the Dodgers’ lead to 8-4. Escobar hit Turner with a pitch to start the sixth, which prompted home plate umpire Dan Iassogna to immediately issue warnings to both benches.
Gonzalez followed with a single to left and it marked the end of the night for Escobar. Silvino Bracho gave up a base hit to Puig that loaded the bases before striking out Van Slyke and Grandal. Taylor added to his big night by crushing a grand slam to extend the Dodgers’ lead to 12-4.
The home run was Taylor’s first of his career and left him a single short of the cycle at that point. Pedro Baez tossed a scoreless inning of relief in the sixth, but Casey Fien didn’t fare nearly as well in the seventh.
Jean Segura hit a solo home run with one out and after Bourn reached on an infield single, Goldschmidt took Fien deep for a two-run shot. J.P. Howell took over in the seventh and retired the two batters faced.
Josh Collmenter hit Van Slyke with a pitch to put the leadoff man on base in the eighth inning. During Grandal’s at-bat, Time Warner Cable SportsNet LA reporter Alanna Rizzo said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts gave Taylor his approval to try for a bunt single to complete the cycle.
Taylor took his manager’s offer and dropped down a bunt with the Diamondbacks infield play back, but Collmenter came off the mound to make the play. Puig quietly added to his strong night with an RBI single in the ninth that extended the Dodgers’ lead to 13-7.
Chris Hatcher came on in the bottom of the ninth and completed a second scoreless inning of relief to seal the Dodgers’ victory. Their 18 hits set a season high and 13 runs scored were the second-most, trailing only their 15-0 win over the San Diego Padres on Opening Day.
What’s more, coupled with the San Francisco Giants’ loss, the Dodgers pulled to within 5.5 games of first place in the National League West.
