The Los Angeles Dodgers endured familiar struggles against left-handed pitching but weathered the storm and were sparked by Steven Souza Jr. exacting revenge against his former team in a 3-0 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks, who set a franchise record with a 15th consecutive loss.
The Dodgers had plenty of traffic against Caleb Smith, including putting two on in the first inning behind walks by Mookie Betts and Justin Turner. Smith worked out of the early threat by getting Albert Pujols to ground into an inning-ending double play.
AJ Pollock’s single in the fourth inning gave the Dodgers their first hit of the game and loaded the bases with one out. Smith again managed to keep the game scoreless, as Will Smith hit into a double play.
L.A. stranded another baserunner when Chris Taylor walked with one out in the sixth inning as they hit into a third double play on the night.
Smith went into his start having thrown a combined three scoreless innings over two appearances against the Dodgers earlier in the season. He went six frames and held them without a run despite issuing four walks.
As the offense struggled, Bauer did his part to keep the Dodgers locked in a scoreless tie. He worked around a leadoff double in the first inning and went on to retire eight in a row before walking Josh Rojas with two outs in the third inning.
Bauer stranded two in each the fourth and fifth innings, and finished his night by retiring the final seven batters faced. Bauer’s eight strikeouts over shutout innings marked his best performance since spin rates were put under a microscope amid MLB’s impending crackdown on foreign substances.
Souza broke up the scoreless tie with a leadoff home run in the eighth inning. Betts’ sacrifice fly doubled the Dodgers’ lead, and a third run came across on Stefan Crichton’s balk.
Dodgers bullpen shuts door
Jimmy Nelson worked a perfect eighth inning and Kenley Jansen tossed a 1-2-3 ninth to wrap up the Dodgers’ win.
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