The Arizona Diamondbacks hung five runs on Rich Hill in the first inning, chased him in the fourth, and survived a Fernando Rodney near-meltdown in the ninth to squeak by the Los Angeles Dodgers, 7-6, on Tuesday night.
Rodney entered his save opportunity with a two-run lead. He gave up a leadoff double, threw two wild pitches, hit a batter with two outs and went to a full count before inducing a groundout to end the game. The rocky inning brought back memories of Rodney’s blown save against the Dodgers in July when he allowed four runs without recording an out.
It was a second straight series opener the Diamondbacks took from the Dodgers at Chase Field. Los Angeles is 8-7 in the head-to-head meetings this season, entering the finale on Thursday.
Following the Diamondbacks’ win in the opener, Rodney explained he’s hoping to face the Dodgers in the playoffs and shared why he believes the National League West favorites may want to avoid matching up in the NL Division Series, via Nick Piecoro of AZcentral.com:
“That’s the team I want to face,” Rodney said. “They’re talking about them as the best team in baseball. So when you beat the best, you are the best.”
And how does he think the Dodgers feel about facing the Diamondbacks?
“I don’t think they want to,” Rodney said. “Because we’ve got (Zack) Greinke. We’ve got (Robbie) Ray. We’ve got a good staff. We can compete right now. (Patrick) Corbin’s throwing the ball well. And the bullpen. We’re here all season long. We’ll try to do the best we can.”
After the Dodgers swept the Diamondbacks in a three-game series at Dodger Stadium, Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said he felt his team matched up well and learned from the tough series.
At this stage in the season both teams are playing to maintain their current standings. The Dodgers are on pace to finish with the best record in the Majors and win a fifth consecutive NL West title.
The Diamondbacks, who led the division for a stretch this season, are sitting in the top Wild Card spot with a three-game lead over the Colorado Rockies. Assuming their Dodgers maintain their lead over the Washington Nationals, currently 10.5 games, they will face the winner of the NL Wild Card Game.
