The Dodgers wasted a small opportunity in the fourth as Utley hit a two-out hustle double off Ryan Madson, who then walked Van Slyke. Ethier grounded out to end the inning. Yimi Garcia erased a one-out Billy Butler base hit by inducing an inning-ending double play.
The A’s managed to get on the board in the fifth, behind Bruce Maxwell’s solo home run hit off Adam Liberatore. Jose De Leon entered in the sixth and promptly had his first pitch hit for a solo home run by Valencia.
Kris Davis followed with a double and Butler lined a single off De Leon’s glove. De Leon limited the damage by getting a double play, which scored a run, and a groundout. Sean Manaea worked around a two-out walk to throw a scoreless seventh inning.
After De Leon retired the first two batters faced, Brandon Hicks dropped a pop fly, resulting in a two-out double for Andrew Lambo. Jake Smolinski grounded out and the Dodgers took their 7-3 lead to the eighth inning.
Alex Hassan led off the eighth with a base hit to left field. The single was the Dodgers’ first non-extra-base hit of the game. Hassan later around to score on an error by Athletics third baseman Renato Nunez.
Chris Anderson needed to work himself out of trouble after issuing back-to-back walks in the bottom of the eighth. He kept the A’s off the board by notching a strikeout, force out and foul out. Matt West tossed a scoreless ninth inning and the Dodgers left Mesa with an 8-3 win.
