Clayton Kershaw pitched well in his third Spring Training start but the Los Angeles Dodgers couldn’t protect an early lead and suffered an 5-3 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks at Salt River Fields.
Kershaw got through four scoreless innings with just one hit allowed. He collected three strikeouts and faced the minimum in what was his longest Cactus League outing. Kershaw finished his day by throwing roughly another inning’s worth in the bullpen.
Kershaw incorporated his curveball more than in prior outings and again mixed in a changeup he’s experimented with for several years. Kershaw should have one more Spring Training start before the regular season begins.
The Dodgers provided Kershaw with a lead in the first inning behind Freddie Freeman drawing a walk and Trea Turner following with a base hit to set the table by putting runners at the corners. Max Muncy’s at-bat ended on a productive out as his grounder to second base scored Freeman.
L.A. scored again in the third inning as they were on the verge of a stranding Austin Barnes’ leadoff double. Turner’s second base hit of the afternoon brought Barnes in with two outs.
Dodgers bullpen falters
The Dodgers went quiet and it ultimately allowed the Diamondbacks to pull even. Victor Gonzalez threw 1.1 innings, aided by Jose Adames stranding two inherited runners to finish the sixth.
However, Guillermo Zuniga surrendered a two-run home run to David Peralta in the bottom of the seventh inning. After Cooper Hummel’s pinch-hit RBI single gave the Diamondbacks a lead, Seth Beer added a run-scoring double that knocked Zuniga out of the game.
Turning to Justin Hagenman didn’t stop Arizona’s momentum. Juan Graterol greeted him with an RBI double, and the Dodgers couldn’t overcome their deficit over the final two innings.
Edwin Rios did hit a solo home run in the eighth.
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