After taking two of the first three games, the Los Angeles Dodgers entered Thursday with a chance to take the four-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Things looked promising for the Dodgers until the eighth inning, when things went awry. By the end of the game, the two teams had a series split.
Diamondbacks 3, Dodgers 2: key takeaways
Dodgers bullpen blows win
Kyle Hurt had a rebound performance from his last outing by pitching a scoreless seventh inning, but the bullpen failed them in the eighth inning.
Will Klein allowed a leadoff homer to Carroll to cut the lead in half. That was followed by a walk and a one-out single before he exited the game, being replaced by Alex Vesia.
With two runners on, Vesia got a fly out for the second out of the inning, but then allowed a single to score the game-tying run. That run was charged to Klein.
In the ninth inning, Tannert Scott entered and allowed a walk-off home run to Ketel Marte.
Justin Wrobleski turns in excellent outing
Justin Wrobleski turned in his second consecutive excellent start since a poor outing against the Milwaukee Brewers on May 22. The left-hander tosses six shutout innings while allowing six hits, no walks and striking out four.
Although the D-Backs had some chances against Wrobleski, they failed to take advantage of them. He stranded all six men on base and limited Arizona to an 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position.
That started out when he stranded Corbin Carroll after a one-out double in the first inning. He ran into some more trouble in the third inning by allowing a pair of singles, but forced a ground out to end the threat.
The Diamondbacks had their best chance to score in the sixth inning after a two-out single from Nolan Arenado. Ryan Waldschmidt doubled into the left-center gap, but Andy Pages quickly got to the ball and made an excellent throw that caused the Diamondbacks to hold Arenado at third base.
With two runners in scoring position and two outs, Wrobleski ended his outing by getting Pavin Smith to ground out.
D-Backs defense helps Dodgers poor offense
The Dodgers’ offense didn’t have a good game, and both runs came in the fifth inning when Ryan Ward and Alex Freeland hit balls to the outfield that the D-Backs outfielders misplayed.
Surprisingly, the rally started after a double play and an unfortunate injury. Max Muncy reached first base on a single before exiting due to injury and being replaced by Santiago Espinal.
With Espinal on first, Ryan Ward lined a ball into the outfield that Carroll took an awful route to and let it go over his head. The ball rolled to the wall as Ward ended up with an RBI double to put the Dodgers up 1-0.
That was followed by Rushing hitting a fly ball that should have been caught, but the center fielder pulled up on the ball to make way for Tommy Troy in left field. The ball dropped in front of both of them, which led to Rushing adding an RBI single to his box score and a run for Ward.
That was all the Dodgers’ offense could muster, as the hitters were mostly ineffective. They tallied just five hits in the game with only two walks.
Max Muncy exits after collision
Muncy was removed from the game after a head-on collision with Ildemaro Vargas at first base. The Dodgers announced Muncy exited the game after experiencing shortness of breath and to evaluate him for a concussion.
Muncy had some blood on the middle of his forehead, but was able to walk off the field under his own power. He briefly remained in the dugout before going into the clubhouse with the Dodgers trainers.
The third baseman was attempting to beat out a grounder hit back of first base, and came face-to-face with Vargas right at the bag. Both players went sprawling to the ground and were checked on by their respective team trainers.
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