Steve Webb
Game 32, 4/30/2024: Dodgers 3, Diamondbacks 4
PHOENIX, AZ — Well, they say that every not you can see something you’ve never seen before in a baseball game, but that usually refers to stuff on the field. But at Chase Field on Tuesday, the Dodgers and the Diamondbacks found themselves in a two-hour delay caused by… bees?
That’s right, sports fans. This billion-dollar sport was put on hold because of a rogue bee colony that somehow managed to ensconce itself in the netting right near home plate. Luckily, there was a dude who in Phoenix who knew how to get of the nasty pests and finally we had baseball.
Because of the extended delay, D-backs manager Torey Lovullo decided to scrap plans to start newly acquired free agent Jordan Montgomery and went instead with a bullpen game of sorts. Dave Roberts, on the other hand, stuck with rookie starter Landon Knack, and Knack seemed to handle the delay with flying colors, pitching another solid start.
After three and a half innings of scoreless baseball, the Diamondbacks finally broke through in the bottom of the fourth, taking the lead on a Christian Walker solo homerun. However, that would be the only run that Knack would surrender in this this one, and he went five plus innings of solid work on just 63 pitches. Well done, young man.
Before Knack left the ballgame, the Dodgers were able to scratch a couple of runs across to take the lead, both courtesy of Snakes reliever Joe Mantiply. After the Dodgers had loaded up the bases with just one out in the fifth, the lefty Mantiply was brought in to face Shohei Ohtani. And on the second pitch of the at-bat, he uncorked a wild pitch that scored Will Smith from third. After he retired Ohtani on a strikeout, Mantiply went on to put another run on the Dodgers’ side of the scorecard with a balk. Thanks, Joe.
After Knack left in the sixth after a leadoff single, things got a bit dicey for reliever Michael Grove, but in the end he was able to wriggle off the hook and get out of a bases-loaded jam when Corbin Carroll flew out to end the inning.
The relief corps did pretty well, but had a narrow margin of error. Daniel Hudson gave up one in the bottom of the eighth, and that was enough to send the game into extras.
The tenth inning got off to a promising start, but the Dodgers couldn’t cash in on a bases-loaded opportunity and came away with only one run on a Will Smith sacrfice fly. In all, the Dodgers were a disappointing 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position. So the game went into the bottom of the tenth with the Dodgers clinging to a 3-2 lead.
That lasted about thirty seconds. Three pitches into the inning, Christian Walker took journeyman Nabil Crismatt way deep to left to call ballgame. Final score 4-3 Snakes.
Bummer. The Dodgers get one more chance to win the series on Wednesday evening. It’ll be Yoshinobu Yamamoto against the previously scratched Jordan Montgomery. Game time 6:40 pm. Have the exterminator on speed dial.
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