Jorge De La Rosa uncorked two wild pitches and the Los Angeles Dodgers took full advantage to score four runs in the eighth inning en route to a 5-2 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks. It earned the Dodgers a needed series split after dropping the first two games at Chase Field.
That snapped the Diamondbacks’ streak of consecutive series won this season at nine. Arizona nonetheless remains seven games ahead of Los Angeles in the National League West standings.
After playing to a 1-1 tie through five innings, the Diamondbacks jumped all over Yimi Garcia in his first Major League game since April 22, 2016. Paul Goldschmidt’s rocket to third base handcuffed Kyle Farmer, whose error put the leadoff man on.
A.J. Pollock followed with a single to left field, and Ketel Marte’s one-out RBI single broke up the tie. Alex Verdugo made a strong throw from left field but it was high, requiring Austin Barnes to leap and then attempt to apply the tag on a close play at the plate.
Edward Paredes replaced Garcia at that point, only to load the bases when he hit Daniel Descalso with a 3-0 pitch. But Paredes benefitted from Jeff Mathis curiously taking a curious approach and fouling out, and a line drive skimming off his glove but going to Chris Taylor.
After squandering Alex Verdugo’s one-out double in the seventh inning, the Dodgers broke through in the eighth. Chris Taylor’s walk and singles by Chase Utley and Matt Kemp loaded the bases with nobody out.
De La Rosa relieved Fernando Salas for a left-on-left matchup with Cody Bellinger, who won it with a game-tying sacrifice fly. A balk allowed both runners to advance and after intentionally walking Barnes, De La Rosa threw two wild pitches, with each bringing in a run. Kyle Farmer’s RBI single put the finishing touch on a four-run inning.
Ross Stripling worked a 1-2-3 eighth, and pitching in a third consecutive game for the first time this season, Kenley Jansen converted the save opportunity.
Alex Wood limited the Diamondbacks to one run on four hits, and had eight strikeouts against two walks over five innings. His low moment was walking Jeff Mathis with two outs in the bottom of the second and then surrendering a game-tying RBI single to Patrick Corbin.
It erased a slim lead Barnes provided in the top half of the inning with a solo home run off Corbin.
There was an injury scare with Wood as he grabbed at the hamstring area of his left leg and stretched it out after throwing a warmup pitch in the fifth inning. Wood was checked on by Dodgers manager Dave Roberts and a trainer before remaining in the game.
He largely pitched to a stalemate with Corbin, who allowed just the one run on three hits in six innings. Corbin finished with two walks and five strikeouts.
