Fourth of July began with a strong push on social media to get Justin Turner to the All-Star Game but he was forced to share the spotlight with Clayton Kershaw by the end of the night.
That’s not to say Turner didn’t add further validation to his All-Star campaign, as he lined an RBI single off the wall in left field in the first inning and drove a solo home run to center field in the third.
The Los Angeles Dodgers chased Arizona Diamondbacks starter Patrick Corbin with two outs in the bottom of the fifth. He exited with a runner on second base, who was stranded by Randall Delgado.
Of the seven hits Corbin allowed, four went for extra-bases (three doubles, one home run). There easily could have been a fifth if Turner’s line drive did not result in a long, run-scoring single.
The Diamondbacks made Kershaw labor some in the first inning, forcing him to throw 19 pitches in the opening frame. He was more efficient in the second inning, though did issue a two-out walk that drew an audible yell in frustration from Kershaw.
He responded by retiring eight in a row, before Chris Iannetta drew his second walk of the game. Aside from the free pass, Kershaw struck out the side and was an efficient 75 pitches through five innings.
Kershaw picked up a 10th strikeout in the seventh inning, giving him a third double-digit strikeout game in his past four starts and sixth on the year. Kershaw was denied history, however, as Chris Owings’ soft grounder to the right side pulled Cody Bellinger well off first base.
He wasn’t able to get to the ball, which Logan Forsythe did, but his throw to Kershaw at the bag was not in time. The infield single was the Diamondbacks’ first of the night. Iannetta later added a base hit before Kershaw could get through the inning.
He finished with 117 pitches over seven shutout innings, two hits allowed, two walks and 11 strikeouts. While Kershaw lost the no-hitter, whether he would have been permitted to continue pursuing history is hardly a guarantee, considering the rising pitch count.
Luis Avilan and Pedro Baez combined to toss a scoreless eighth inning, and though Brandon Morrow started the ninth, he was removed after allowing a leadoff double to Paul Goldschmidt and one-out single to Brandon Drury.
Kenley Jansen proved to be human as he surrendered a two-out, three-run home run to Daniel Descalso, then issued a walk. before converting his 19th save of the season to seal the 4-3 victory.
Of note, Yasmani Grandal went 3-for-4 with two RBI, including a second run-scoring single of the game to bring in an insurance run in the eighth inning. Each of Grandal’s hits were as a right-handed batter.
With the win the Dodgers moved 3.5 games ahead of the Diamondbacks in the National League West standings.
