The Los Angeles Dodgers were swept in their first road series of the 2018 season by the Arizona Diamondbacks, dropping the final game of the three-game set on Wednesday afternoon, 3-0.
The Dodgers bats were the biggest area of concern in the series, particularly on Wednesday when they were shutout and managed all of one hit off Diamondbacks left-hander Patrick Corbin. He effectively used a slider to amass a career-high 12 strikeouts in 7.1 innings.
As Corbin stymied Los Angeles, Dodgers starter Alex Wood struggled some. He gave up a leadoff double in each of the first three innings, and saw that runner score each time. The outing was the opposite of Wood’s dominant performance against the San Francisco Giants when he completed eight shutout innings.
After the loss, Wood compared Wednesday’s outing to his season debut, via SportsNet LA:
“It was just a little bit more of a battle today, I didn’t think my stuff was that great today. But I made some good pitches when we had to. But when you give up a leadoff double to start the inning against that lineup it’s kind of tough to tamp it down. I was able to make it through six, but much more of a battle today.”
Wood settled in nicely after the third inning and managed to get through six innings of work, giving up six hits and three runs while striking out five without issung a walk.
While he has yet to earn a win on the season, Wood has definitely shown that his 2017 breakout campaign was not a fluke. And because of it, he is firmly locked in behind Clayton Kershaw as the team’s No. 2 starter.
Wood’s next start will likely come when the Dodgers return home next week to face the Oakland Athletics on either Tuesday or Wednesday. It may hinge on how manager Dave Roberts elects to align his rotation with an off day and potential rainouts this weekend in San Francisco.
