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Poor Dodgers defense allows the Diamondbacks to salvage a doubleheader split
The Dodgers lurched through a doubleheader Tuesday of two oddly similar games with starkly different outcomes.
The opener took three hours-plus beginning at noon, and the Dodgers eventually progressed from flat to focused, exploding for five runs in the eighth inning to edge the Arizona Diamondbacks 6-5 at Dodger Stadium.
Another three hours-plus passed before the second game began, and again the Dodgers fell behind early, surrendering their third unearned run of the day in the second inning and two more in the sixth, giving them a season-high four errors in the game — and six in the doubleheader.
Max Muncy hit a two-run home run in the sixth but Ketel Marte answered with a solo shot in the seventh, keeping the Diamondbacks ahead. Muncy came up in eighth and scorched a line drive with two out and a runner on, but right fielder Jordan Luplow flagged it down. The Diamondbacks tacked on a run in the ninth to win 5-2.
More from the mirror: The Dodgers collected 12 singles and an Austin Barnes homer in the first game, and seven singles and Muncy’s homer in the second game.
In both games, the Dodgers reached base frequently but scored sparingly. In the second game, Trea Turner and Freddie Freeman singled in the first inning. Cody Bellinger singled and Trea Turner walked in the third. Will Smith and Justin Turner singled in the fourth. All were stranded.
Dodgers starter Tyler Anderson continued to make a case for inclusion in the postseason rotation, allowing three unearned runs and two hits through six innings while striking out five and lowering his ERA to 2.52.
But Anderson had to own a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the sixth. He hit a batter, dropped a throw covering first on a grounder to Freddie Freeman and hit another batter. Then the Dodgers defense, wobbly all day, got worse.
Carson Kelly hit a sacrifice fly to Mookie Betts, who saw Jake McCarthy advancing to third. Betts throw skipped past Muncy, allowing McCarthy to score. Anderson backed up the play but his throw home was errant, allowing Christian Walker to advance to third.
The tally? Three errors in the inning — two by Anderson — and the Diamondbacks led 3-0.
The first game elicited similar frustration for the Dodgers until the eighth inning. An RBI single by rookie Miguel Vargas off the glove of Arizona Diamondbacks third baseman Josh Rojas capped the five-run rally. It was the second hit of the inning for Vargas, who began the frame with a sharp single that was followed by Barnes’ home run to cut the deficit to 5-3.
“That’s a big moment for him,†Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner said of Vargas. “It’s not easy to go from playing every day in the minors to coming up and adjusting to a role, maybe playing once or twice a week.â€
Maury Wills, who revolutionized baseball with his ability to steal bases and was the MVP of the National League in 1962 for the Dodgers, has died.
The Dodgers planned to have rookies Michael Grove and Ryan Pepiot pitch the entire first game to rest veterans relievers, but with the tables turned heading into the ninth, manager Dave Roberts opted for right-hander Chris Martin, who retired the Diamondbacks in order to notch his second save since joining the Dodgers at the trade deadline.
“We came out flat, so it was good to see life in the later innings,†said Barnes, who singled twice in addition to hitting the home run that traveled 394 feet.
Roberts disputed the characterization, flatly saying, “I don’t think we were flat. We grinded out at-bats early and elevated pitch counts. They gave us extra outs in the eighth after we’d done everything earlier to give them the game.â€
Grove struck out seven in five innings but surrendered nine hits, including two home runs. Making his fifth major league appearance and fourth start, he leaned on an effective curveball.
“He’s got a very good curve,†Barnes said. “He battles, he competes out there.â€
Former Dodgers star Maury Wills, who died Monday, helped make the stolen base a major part of baseball. Regrettably, he’s not in the Hall of Fame.
Grove’s four-seam fastball elicited zero swings and misses, however. He was victimized by errors by Freeman and Vargas that led to unearned runs, and the Dodgers trailed 5-1 when Pepiot took the mound to begin the sixth inning.
Pepiot shook off a wobbly start and threw three scoreless innings. With two on and one out in the sixth, he was late covering first on a groundball by the speedy McCarthy to Freeman, who first turned to throw to second, thought better of it and wheeled around to toss to Pepiot covering the bag.
Dodgers reliever David Price said Sunday that he has not made a decision on whether to retire. A report in USA Today said he was calling it a career after the season.
Umpire Adam Beck called McCarthy safe but replay showed he was out. Pepiot settled down, striking out Christian Walker to end the sixth, then retiring the Diamondbacks in order in the seventh and eighth.
Vargas made two poor throws, one coming immediately after he made an exceptional catch in the fifth inning. Marte followed Walker’s 35th home run with a sharp, slicing shot to left field that Vargas caught while twisting to his body to his right after opening his left shoulder when the ball was hit.
Ten hours after the first pitch of the opener, the Dodgers had a split to show for it, their record a still-gaudy 104-45 with 13 to play in the regular season.
Diamondbacks beat the Dodgers, 5-2
Arizona added an insurance run against Justin Bruihl in the top of the ninth. Jordan Luplow flied to center. Sergio Alcantara singled to left-center. Geraldo Perdomo popped to first. Corbin Carroll tripled down the right-field line, scoring Alcantara. Ketel Marte was walked intentionally. Jake McCarthy grounded to second, forcing Marte.
Former Dodger Reyes Moronta came in to pitch the bottom of the ninth, hoping to get the save. Justin Turner flied to deep right. Gavin Lux flied to center. Chris Taylor struck out.
Final score: Diamondbacks 5, Dodgers 2
Diamondbacks make it 4-2 in the seventh
The Diamondbacks made it 4-2 in the top of the seventh. New pitcher Phil Bickford struck out the first two batters, then gave up a home run to center to Ketel Marte. Jake McCarthy grounded to short.
The Dodgers went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the seventh.
Defense hurts Dodgers again, they trail 3-2
The Diamondbacks took advantage of more poor defense in the sixth. Ketel Marte was hit by a pitch. Tyler Anderson couldn’t handle a ball Jake McCarthy hit to him, with the error putting runners on first and second. Christian Walker was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Emmanuel Rivera struck out. Carson Kelly flied to right, scoring Marte, with McCarthy scoring on Betts’ throwing error. Anderson then tried to get the runner advancing, but threw the ball away for another error. Jordan Luplow walked. First and third, two out. Sergio Alcantara bounced to second. The Dodgers have made four errors in this game and Arizona has three unearned runs and only two hits.
In the bottom of the sixth, Freddie Freeman singled. Will Smith struck out. Max Muncy homered to deep right. Justin Turner grounded to second. Gavin Lux struck out.
Score after six: Diamondbacks 3, Dodgers 2
Diamondbacks lead 1-0 through five innings
Arizona still leads the Dodgers, 1-0, after five innings in Game 2 of a doubleheader on Tuesday. The Dodgers have five hits, the Diamondbacks two.
Tyler Anderson has given up two hits, a walk and an unearned run in five innings, striking out five.
Score after five innings: Diamondbacks 1, Dodgers 0
Diamondbacks take 1-0 lead
The sloppy play from the first game continued in Game 2. Christian Walker struck out to start the second inning. Emmanuel Rivera singled to left center. Carson Kelly singled to center. First and second, one out. Jordan Luplow popped to second. Sergio Alcantara grounded to short. Trea Turner had to range far to get it, hurried the throw to get the runner at second and threw it away, allowing Rivera to score. Geraldo Perdomo hit a hard shot to third that Muncy snared on a bounce and threw to first for the final out.
The Dodgers went down in order in the bottom of the second.
Score after two: Diamondbacks 1, Dodgers 0
No score after one inning
Tyler Anderson retired the Diamondbacks, three up, three down, in the top of the first. In the bottom half, Mookie Betts struck out, Trea Turner singled to center and Freddie Freeman singled to center to put runners at first and second. Will Smith struck out. Max Muncy struck out.
Score after one: Dodgers 0, Diamondbacks 0
Dodgers rally from four-run deficit in the eighth inning to shock Diamondbacks 6-5
It took three hours, but the Dodgers finally went from flat to focused, exploding for five runs in the eighth inning to edge the Arizona Diamondbacks 6-5 in the first game of a doubleheader Tuesday at Dodger Stadium.
A single by rookie Miguel Vargas off the glove of Arizona Diamondbacks third baseman Josh Rojas allowed Will Smith to score the Dodgers’ sixth run of the eighth. It was the second hit of the inning for Vargas, who began the frame with a sharp single that was followed by a home run from Austin Barnes that cut the deficit to 5-3.
Rojas made a throwing error on a routine ground ball by Hanser Robles, then after two walks loaded the bases, Smith smoked a pinch-hit RBI single, then Trayce Thompson tied the score with a single on the third-base side of Rojas , who dove but had the ball squirt out of his glove.
Chris Taylor and pinch-hitter Mookie Betts struck out, bringing up Vargas, a top prospect who entered the inning three for 27 this season, but exited with two hits that raised his average from .111 to .172.
“That’s a big moment for him,†Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner said. “It’s not easy to go from playing every day in the minors to coming up and adjusting to a role, maybe playing once or twice a week.â€
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts planned to have rookies Michael Grove and Ryan Pepiot pitch the entire game to rest veteran relievers, but with the tables turned heading into the ninth, he opted for right-hander Chris Martin, who retired the Diamondbacks in order to notch his second save since coming to the Dodgers at the trade deadline.
“We came out flat, so it was good to see life in the later innings,†said Barnes, who singled twice in addition to hitting the home run that traveled 394 feet.
Roberts disputed the characterization, flatly saying, “I don’t think we were flat. We grinded out at-bats early and elevated the pitch count [of Diamondbacks starter Zach Davies].
“They gave us extra outs in the eighth after we’d done everything earlier to give them the game.â€
Grove struck out seven in five innings but surrendered nine hits, including two home runs. Making his fifth major league appearance and fourth start, He leaned on an effective curveball.
“He’s got a very good curve,†Barnes said. “He battles, he competes out there.â€
However, Grove’s four-seam fastball elicited zero missed swings. He was victimized by errors from first baseman Freddie Freeman and left fielder Vargas that led to unearned runs, and the Dodgers trailed 5-1 when Pepiot took the mound to begin the sixth inning.
Fifteen Diamondbacks batters came up with runners in scoring position against Grove because in the second, third and fourth innings a runner reached second with none out.
Pepiot shook off a wobbly start and threw three scoreless innings. With two on and one out in the sixth, he was late covering first on a groundball by Jake McCarthy to Freeman, who first turned to throw to second, thought better of it and wheeled around to toss to Pepiot covering the bag.
The rookie pitcher was a split-second late, causing Freeman to double-clutch before throwing. Umpire Adam Beck called McCarthy safe but replay showed he was out. Pepiot settled down, striking out Christian Walker to end the sixth, then retiring the Diamondbacks in order in the seventh and eighth.
Vargas made two poor throws, one coming immediately after he made an exceptional catch. Ketel Marte followed Walker’s 35th home run in the fifth inning with a sharp, slicing shot to left field that Vargas caught while twisting to his body to his right after opening his left shoulder when the ball was hit.
The Dodgers improved to 103-44 and the Diamondbacks fell to 68-80. The second game of the doubleheader at Dodger Stadium will begin at 7:10 p.m.
Tyler Anderson returns from paternity leave — his wife gave birth to a boy they named Tucker — to make the start for the Dodgers. Rookie Drey Jameson will start for the Diamondbacks.
Christian Walker’s 35th home run and another error put Dodgers in a deeper hole
Christian Walker homered to left field with one out in the fifth inning to extend the Diamondbacks’ lead. The cushion grew to 5-1 when a throw from Miguel Vargas to third base skipped past two infielders and slipped into the Dodgers dugout, allowing Josh Rojas to score with two out.
Vargas had just made an exceptional catch. Ketel Marte followed Walker’s homer with a sharp, slicing shot to left field that Vargas caught while twisting his body to his right after opening his left shoulder when the ball was hit.
Dodgers rookie starter Michael Grove was victimized by two unearned runs and left after five innings having given up three earned runs while striking out seven and walking one. The Diamondbacks had nine hits against him.
Freddie Freeman’s error enables Diamondbacks to pad their lead
First baseman Freddie Freeman couldn’t field a ground ball by Alek Thomas to lead off the fourth inning, and with two out Thomas scored on a single by Daulton Varsho to extend the Diamondbacks’ lead to 3-1.
Dodgers rookie Michael Grove has struck out seven in four innings. Through four innings, 14 Arizona batters came up with a runner in scoring position because in the second, third and fourth a runner reached second with none out. Two came through with hits.
The Dodgers have seven hits in four innings, but little to show for it because they are 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position.
Diamondbacks take a 2-1 lead on Daulton Varsho’s home run
Daulton Varsho hit his 26th home run of the season to lead off the third inning and give the Diamondbacks a 2-1 lead. Corbin Carroll singled and stole second, but Michael Grove pitched out of the jam.
Arizona tied the score 1-1 in the second when Ketel Marte led off with a long double and Cooper Hummel stroked a ground-rule double to left with two out.
Grove has struck out five and walked one in three innings.
Justin Turner’s 12-pitch at-bat highlights the first inning
The first inning was great for the Dodgers. Rookie Michael Grove struck out the side in the top and Freddie Freeman scored on Trayce Thompson’s sacrifice fly in the bottom.
The highlight, however, was Justin Turner’s 12-pitch at-bat that ended with a sharp single up the middle that nearly struck Diamondbacks pitcher Zach Davies in the shin. Davies needed 35 pitches to get through the inning.
Dodgers rest several regulars in the doubleheader opener
Mookie Betts, Will Smith, Max Muncy and Cody Bellinger are absent from the starting lineup in the opener of today’s doubleheader.
Trea Turner and Freddie Freeman will bat one and two, followed by Justin Turner, Joey Gallo, Trayce Thompson and Chris Taylor. Gavin Lux will bat seventh as the designated hitter, rookie Miguel Vargas will bat eighth, followed by catcher Austin Barnes.
Manager Dave Roberts said Justin Turner will be the designated hitter in the second game.
Dodgers great Maury Wills dies at 89
Maury Wills, who worked hard to achieve stardom with the Los Angeles Dodgers, then worked just as hard to regain dignity and standing within baseball through sobriety, has died, the team announced Tuesday.
Wills died Monday night at his home in Sedona, Ariz. He was 89.
A light-hitting shortstop who spent nearly a decade in the minor leagues, Wills honed his limited skills, studied pitchers’ tendencies and learned to switch-hit, earning a shot with the Dodgers, then helped take them to three World Series titles in four tries while re-introducing base-stealing to baseball as a major offensive weapon.
Wills became a valued instructor with the Dodgers in his later years and developed a strong relationship a young base stealer when Dave Roberts was traded from the Cleveland Indians to the Dodgers in December 2001. Roberts stole 118 bases in 2½ seasons before being traded to the Boston Red Sox, where he executed maybe the most famous stolen base in history during the 2004 American League Championship Series.
Roberts, who as the Dodgers manager wears No. 30 as a salute to Wills, had a single tear running down his cheek as he spoke about his mentor before the first game of a doubleheader Tuesday at Dodger Stadium.
“He just loved the game of baseball, loved working and loved the relationship with players,†Roberts said. “We spent a lot of time together. He showed me how to appreciate my craft and what it is to be a big leaguer. He just loved to teach. So I think a lot of where I get my excitement, my passion and my love for the players is from Maury.â€
Roberts said he “probably†wouldn’t be managing the Dodgers if not for Wills and his influence on him.
“And in a strange way, I think I enriched his post-baseball career as far as watching every game I played or managed,†Roberts said. “I remember even during games I played, he’d come down from the suite and tell me I need to bunt more, I need to do this or that. ... A coach would say, ‘Maury is at the end of the dugout and wants to talk to you.’ It just showed that he was in it with me, and to this day, he would be there cheering for me.â€
Wills played a key role for the 1960s Dodgers, leading the National League in steals six times, earning two gold gloves for his fielding and beating out Willie Mays for the league’s most valuable player award in ’62, when he startled the baseball world by setting a record with 104 stolen bases, eclipsing the 47-year-old mark of 96 by the immortal Ty Cobb.
Batting leadoff, he hit .299 that season, collecting 208 hits, all but 29 of them singles. At the just-opened Dodger Stadium, though, those singles brought chants of “Go! Go! Go!†and Wills was happy to oblige, usually successfully.
He was caught stealing only 13 times and later said that number really should have been eight, since five times he was thrown out when Jim Gilliam, hitting behind him, failed to connect on hit-and-run plays. His prowess on the base paths that season resulted in a career-high 130 runs scored.
Freddie Freeman on track for batting title; Dodgers win to clinch first-round bye
Batting average is considered old-fashioned in today’s analytics-driven game, a statistical relic that has been replaced by on-base percentage, slugging percentage and wins above replacement as more accurate measures of offense, and a batting title doesn’t carry the weight it once did.
“It does for me,†Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman shot back before Monday night’s 5-2 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks before a crowd of 44,854 at Chavez Ravine.
“I know people don’t put as much stock in batting average and RBIs, but if you go to a stadium, what numbers do they put on the scoreboard? It’s batting average, home runs and RBIs. If they don’t really care, then take them off the board.â€
How to watch and stream the Dodgers this season
Here’s a look at the Dodgers broadcast and streaming schedule for the remainder of the 2022 regular season: