The Los Angeles Dodgers’ losing streak reached a season-high four games with a 9-5 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks to begin the three-game series.
Things started out poorly for the Dodgers as Ketel Marte singled and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. walked in the first inning against Jack Dreyer, who was working as the opener. The D-Backs ended up with a 1-0 lead after miscommunication between Hyeseong Kim and Teoscar Hernández allowed a routine fly ball to turn into a double for Eugenio Suarez.
Josh Naylor grounded out to drive in another run, putting Arizona up 2-0 before the Dodgers had their at-bats.
In the second, the Diamondbacks extended their lead, which began with Tim Tawa singling and advancing to second on a wild pitch. He came around to score after a sacrifice fly from Geraldo Perdomo.
Landon Knack took over in the third inning, and things really got out of hand for the Dodgers as he allowed a pair of two-run homers. The first came via Gurriel after Corbin Carroll walked, and the second came off the bat of Gabriel Moreno following a single from Naylor.
By that point, the D-Backs held a 7-0 lead.
But from there, Knack ended up pitching well after a change to his pitch usage, likely after some conversations with Will Smith. The right-hander ended up relying on his changeup — his best pitch — the rest of the game after a fastball-heavy start, and he tossed four-shutout innings from that point on.
Dreyer finished his outing allowing three runs in two innings, while Knack went five innings and allowed four runs.
Matt Sauer took over in the eighth inning, and he allowed a two-run homer of his own, this time from Perdomo after a single from Pavin Smith.
Dodgers offense struggles against D-Backs
The Dodgers offense couldn’t muster any rallies until it was too late, but they did hit three solo home runs. Two of them came from Mookie Betts, and the other from Shohei Ohtani.
With Ohtani’s homer’ he re-took the MLB home run lead with 17. Betts, who has struggled in the power department this year, showed an encouraging sign that he’s getting back on track.
In the ninth, the Dodgers finally strung a rally together. Teoscar Hernández grounded out with Freddie Freeman on third base to drive in a run, and Tommy Edman singled home another.
But their comeback attempt fell short with the tying run in the on-deck circle.
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