Facing the Arizona Diamondbacks for the first time since sweeping them in the 2017 National League Division Series, the Los Angeles Dodgers picked up where they left off. They chased Robbie Ray in the first inning and went on for a 14-6 win in front of a sold-out crowd at Camelback Ranch.
Ray’s second start of the spring began with a walk of Chris Taylor, though he was then thrown out on a stolen base attempt. It momentarily prevented the Dodgers from taking the lead, as Justin Turner followed with a double.
Matt Kemp followed with a booming two-run home run to left-center field, springing the leak on the Diamondbacks’ southpaw. Two batters later, Kyle Farmer slugged his first home run of Cactus League play to increase the Dodgers’ lead to 3-0.
Ray then allowed a base hit to Travis Taijeron, walked Donovan Solano, and was replaced by Joey Krehbiel after 40 pitches. Back-to-back hits by Matt Beaty and Omar Estevez propelled Los Angeles to a 6-0 advantage before Krehbiel could get out of the inning.
Some of that was cut into however, as Alex Wood wasn’t able to work the same magic he did when stranding a leadoff triple in the first inning by striking out the next three batters. Wood’s first pitch in the second was ambushed by Christian Walker for a solo home run.
And in the third inning, Wood was lifted after walking Ray Fuentes with one out. Inheriting a runner on first base, Brian Schlitter was tasked to escape the inning cleanly. However, he lacked command on his pitches and quickly loaded the bases.
Chris Owings was hit by a pitch and Ketel Marte’s grounder to third base went off the bag and resulted in an infield single. Schlitter then walked in a run and allowed another to score on a wild pitch. With the bases again loaded, Yasmany Tomas’ RBI single cut the Dodgers’ lead to 6-4.
In the bottom of the fourth, Turner joined the Dodgers’ home run parade with a solo shot to make it 7-4. Farmer later added to his RBI total with a run-scoring single in the fifth.
The Dodgers’ scoring barrage continued into the sixth, as Andrew Toles, pinch-hitting for Turner, pulled a two-run triple down the right-field line.
Jake Peter followed suit and added an RBI triple of his own to increase the Dodgers lead. Keibert Ruiz scored Peter with an RBI single, making it 12-4 in favor of the Dodgers. Peter added to his day with an opposite-field two-run homer in the eighth. The home run was Peter’s third in as many games.
