The Los Angeles Dodgers effectively are in must-win territory with respect to the National League West race and they started their final road series of the season with a 4-2 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks.
L.A. used a three-run second inning as Will Smith’s leadoff double was followed by an RBI single from Justin Turner. AJ Pollock’s two-run home run then made it three consecutive hits to start the inning.
That capped off an impressive stretch for Pollock, as he robbed Josh Rojas of a likely extra-base hit with a leaping catch at the wall in the bottom of the first.
It of course wasn’t the first such grab Pollock has made this season, as he rebounded from jumping too early against the New York Mets to rob the San Diego Padres’ Manny Machado days later.
Doing it with the glove AND the bat. pic.twitter.com/sUAxIO6vQx
— SportsNet LA (@SportsNetLA) September 25, 2021
Stay hot, AJ! 💪 pic.twitter.com/tW8zLB4rKo
— SportsNet LA (@SportsNetLA) September 25, 2021
Inning-ending double play for @TheRealGavinLux. pic.twitter.com/oS2xfP773Y
— SportsNet LA (@SportsNetLA) September 25, 2021
CT3 putting on a clinic. 😳 pic.twitter.com/zLp0fGdlUP
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) September 25, 2021
While L.A. went quiet offensively, the Diamondbacks began to chip away at their deficit. It started with a Kole Calhoun solo home run in the bottom of the third inning and continued in the fifth when a strikeout-wild pitch came across to score on a two-out RBI single from Josh VanMeter.
Sandwiched in between was Gavin Lux taking an extra-base hit and likely RBI away from Calhoun in the fourth inning. Lux’s running catch was his first career putout in center field and resulted in an inning-ending double play.
The Dodgers received more stellar defense in the bottom of the ninth when Chris Taylor made a diving catch and followed it with a sliding grab to help Kenley Jansen retire the side in order. Taylor pinch-hit in the eighth inning and remained in the game to play left field.
“I’m not sure if I’m making either one of those,” Pollock said after the win. “We might still be playing if Chris Taylor is not in the game. He made some unbelievable plays.”
Taylor potentially back in Dodgers lineup
Friday marked a fourth consecutive game in which Taylor did not start because of his lingering neck trouble. However, the expectation was he would be back in the lineup on Saturday.
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