The Los Angeles Dodgers had their first split-squad action of the spring on Saturday afternoon, hosting the Arizona Diamondbacks at Camelback Ranch while also traveling to take on the Colorado Rockies.
In the home game, L.A. scored early often and was able to carry that momentum to a 7-4 victory over their National League West rivals.
Ross Stripling got the start for the Dodgers and quickly gave up a leadoff double to Jon Jay. He then retired the next six hitters he faced to complete two scoreless innings of work though. He needed just 25 pitches to complete his outing, so then went to the bullpen to continue to build his pitch count.
The Dodgers didn’t waste any time getting on the scoreboard in the bottom of the first as Mookie Betts led it off with a single and later scored on a triple by Gavin Lux. The three-run rally was then capped off by a two-run home run off the bat of Luke Raley, his first of the spring.
L.A. added three more runs in the second to extend their lead to 6-0. Terrance Gore got this rally started with an infield single. Then after back-to-back doubles by Tyler White and Edwin Rios, Justin Turner capped it off with a two-run single.
After Scott Alexander, Caleb Ferguson and Zach McAllister all completed scoreless innings on the mound for the Dodgers, the Diamondbacks finally broke through in the sixth inning.
Dodgers prospect Mitchell White was the pitcher to struggle on the mound, allowing three hits, a walk and a pair of runs to cut the lead to 6-2. They quickly got one of those runs back in the bottom half though after Gore singled and later scored on a groundout by Miguel Vargas.
Another prospect in Edwin Uceta then pitched the seventh and eighth for the Dodgers. Despite giving up four hits and requiring 41 pitches, he was able to get through both frames without allowing a run.
Markus Solbach allowed a two-run home run to a familiar face in Trayce Thompson in the ninth, but still was able to close out the victory.
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