With their ninth-inning rally falling short against the Seattle Mariners, the Los Angeles Dodgers looked to avoid being swept in their split-squad games on Saturday as they faced the Chicago White Sox in a night affair at Camelback Ranch.
Zach Lee worked around an Austin Jackson leadoff single to throw a scoreless first inning. Carl Crawford led off the bottom of the first with a base hit, but was erased at second base on a force out.
With Joc Pederson on first base, Justin Turner drew a walk to put two on with one out. Carson Fulmer caught a break as Pederson made a wide turn at third base on Adrian Gonzalez’s base hit and was tagged out after a brief rundown.
Fulmer then didn’t do himself any favors as he not only issued a walk to Austin Barnes, but ball four was a wild pitch that allowed Turner to score and the Dodgers to take a 1-0 lead.
Matt Davidson hit a leadoff double in the second inning, and tagged to take third base on J.B. Shuck’s fly ball to deep center field. Tyler Saladino’s sacrifice fly tied the game at 1-1 before Lee managed to get out of the inning.
Willie Calhoun and Crawford each hit a two-out single in the bottom of the second. Both runners were stranded as Fulmer struck out Pederson swinging. The White Sox again had their leadoff man reach base in the third as Carlos Sanchez hit a ground-rule double.
Nothing came of it however, as Lee proceeded to retire the next three batters faced. Turner continued with his hot spring as he doubled down the left field line in the bottom of the fourth. He later scored from third base on Barnes’ RBI single.
CONTINUE READING: Joe Blanton allows White Sox to trim Dodgers’ lead, Jamey Wright earns save
The White Sox remained perfect with getting their leadoff man on base as Shuck singled in the fourth. Dioner Navarro’s base hit put runners on first and second with one out. Jackson’s two-out RBI infield single tied the game at 2-2 before Lee got out of the inning.
A Cody Bellinger leadoff walk in the bottom of the fourth was erased on a Calhoun double play. Fulmer then got Crawford to ground out to end the inning. Lee retired the first two batters faced in the fifth, then gave way to Chris Hatcher.
The right-handed reliever got Davidson to fly to center for the third out. Turner knocked a one-out single to center in the bottom of the fifth and was replaced by pinch-runner Adam Law. Dan Jennings came on in relief of Fulmer and gave up an RBI double to Gonzalez.
Hatcher worked around a two-base fielding error by Law at third base to toss a scoreless sixth inning. Cody Bellinger and Calhoun hit back-to-back solo home runs in the bottom of the sixth, extending the Dodgers’ lead to 5-2.
Louis Coleman recorded two outs in the seventh before getting replaced by Joe Blanton, who promptly gave up a solo home run to Abreu. Saladino pulled the White Sox within one run of the Dodgers by clubbing a solo homer off Blanton in the eighth.
Jamey Wright retired the White Sox in order to earn a save in the Dodgers’ 5-4 win.