The Los Angeles Dodgers appeared well on their way to winning both games at Salt River Fields this spring but settled for a 7-7 tie with the Arizona Diamondbacks in what was David Price’s first Cactus League start of the year and third game.
Mookie Betts and Corey Seager again were at the center of the Dodgers’ run production. After Betts opened the game with a double, Seager followed with an RBI single into center field. Then with two outs in the second inning, Seager’s fly ball to center field scored two more when Trayce Thompson dropped it because of the sun.
One of those was Price, who singled in his first at-bat of the spring. During his introductory press conference last year, Price said he was looking forward to getting a chance to bat for himself under National League rules.
While that didn’t come to fruition in 2020, it should this year. Price will enter the campaign with a two-game hitting streak in the regular season.
L.A. added to their lead in the third inning when back-to-back singles by Max Muncy and Will Smith eventually were cashed in. One run came across on AJ Pollock’s sacrifice fly and another scored when David Peralta lost Gavin Lux’s fly ball to left-center field in the sun.
Although Price managed to navigate his way through some traffic in each of the first two innings, it caught up to him in the third. The Diamondbacks strung together four consecutive singles to open the inning and get on the scoreboard.
Arizona scored a second run on a double play with the bases loaded, and Price wound up coming out of the game after issuing a walk. He threw 49 pitches and fell one out shy of going the targeted three innings in his first start this spring.
After getting the final out in the third inning, Dennis Santana remained in the game for the fourth. He immediately ran into trouble as the Diamondbacks started the inning with a double and single.
David Peralta then tied the game with a three-run home run and Asdrubal Cabrera gave the Diamondbacks a lead with his solo shot two batters later.
The Dodgers answered back in the top of the fifth with Cody Bellinger’s RBI single tying the game. The hit was Bellinger’s first in six at-bats this spring as he continues to work on finding a rhythm after offseason shoulder surgery.
Bellinger added to that with a go-ahead solo home run with two outs in the seventh inning. However, Michael Grove couldn’t protect the lead and the game ended in a tie.
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