The Los Angeles Dodgers put forth a valiant effort in their first game since learning Corey Seager was lost to Tommy John surgery, but all it resulted in was an 8-5 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks.
It extended their losing streak to three games and was the sixth loss in seven head-to-head meetings with the Diamondbacks. In addition to the familiar outcome against Arizona, a struggling bullpen was again an issue for Los Angeles.
With the Dodgers trailing 5-3, Tony Cingrani inherited two runners in the seventh. He promptly walked the bases loaded, then hit David Peralta with a pitch to bring a run in. A chopper that deflected off Cingrani’s glove led to a Chris Taylor throwing error, which scored another run.
That ultimately loomed large, as the Dodgers put two on with nobody out in the eighth inning. Joc Pederson hit a sacrifice fly and Matt Kemp delivered a pinch-hit RBI single. But rather than tying the game it trimmed the Diamondbacks’ lead to 7-5.
However, even that progress was offset as A.J. Pollock clubbed his third home run of the game in the bottom of the eighth. Dodgers relievers combined to allow four runs over four innings in the loss.
With Rich Hill unavailable because of a finger infection, Ross Stripling received a spot start. He retired the side in order in the first inning but surrendered a leadoff home run to Pollock in the second.
That was followed by a Daniel Descaslo double, which was cashed in by Nick Ahmed on an RBI single, and Zack Greinke later helped his cause with a two-out RBI single to cap off the three-run inning.
Ahmed extended the Diamondbacks’ lead to 4-0 with a solo home run in the fourth, though Stripling limited the damage by leaving the bases loaded. Pollock’s second homer of the game came off Brock Stewart in the fifth inning.
The Dodgers didn’t collect their first hit off Greinke until Yasmani Grandal’s one-out double in the fourth inning, and it wasn’t until the sixth that they got on the scoreboard. Grandal’s single scored Chris Taylor, who led off with a double, and Joc Pederson’s triple tacked on another run.
Max Muncy’s home run made it 5-3, Diamondbacks, and the Dodgers’ last threat came in the eighth inning.
