In what is their biggest series of the year to date, the Los Angeles Dodgers split the first two of four games against the division-rival Arizona Diamondbacks.
That made Saturday night’s game a big one, and although for a while it did not look like the Dodgers would come out on top, they fought back to earn a 3-2 victory to draw even with Arizona atop the National League West standings.
Clayton Kershaw turned in another strong performance, giving up just two solo home runs in seven innings of work. He allowed just four total hits while striking out three.
Kershaw left the game with his team trailing 2-0 though, as the offense stayed quiet for most of the night. That changed in a dramatic eighth inning for a second consecutive game.
Justin Turner started a rally with a one-out single to right off Archie Bradley, and then Manny Machado followed with a walk to bring the go-ahead run at the plate in the form of Matt Kemp.
Kemp, who has been struggling as of late, was quickly down 0-2 against Bradley after taking two fastballs. He was able then able to lay off a breaking ball in the dirt before Bradley hung the next one and Kemp made him pay by launching a three-run home run to center field to give the Dodgers a decided 3-2 lead.
While it was the Dodgers’ biggest swing of the season to this point, they still had to get three outs in the ninth to complete the victory.
Kiké Hernandez helped Kenley Jansen out by making an acrobatic play at second base for the first out of the inning, and Jansen was able to shut down the door to complete the comeback victory and earn his 34th save of the season.
