Steve Webb
PHOENIX, AZ — Well, what can ya do? After clinching the division on Tuesday night, the Dodgers sat many of the key pieces of the team on Wednesday, and still came within a pitch or two of winning the ballgame and sweeping the series. Instead, pinch-hitter Sergio Alcantara‘s three-run jack off of stopper Craig Kimbrel in the bottom of the tenth was the difference in this one as the D-backs walked off their foes from LA by a score of 5-3.
Teams trade solo shots early
Recent call-up Michael Grove got the thankless task of the pitching the game after the Dodgers’ clinched the division, and to be honest, the guy acquitted himself pretty nicely. He gave up a couple of solo home runs from Daulton Varsho and Corbin Carroll in the first two innings, but settled down after that. When he finally left the game after five innings, he had the makings of a quality start under his belt. His line for the night: 5.0 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K. Well done, young man.
Meanwhile, the Dodgers were without the services of Mookie Betts, Trea Turner, Freddie Freeman, and Justin Turner, all of whom were given much deserved days off after the previous night’s big win. But obviously, you can’t remove that kind of firepower from the lineup and still expect your team to score seven runs a ballgame. However, they did manage back-to-back dingers in the top of the fifth from Will Smith and Trayce Thompson to tie the score at 2-2.
Pen pitches four scoreless to send the game into extras
With Grove out after five, it was up to the bullpen to keep this one tight. And they did just that. This time, it was the combination of Chris Martin, Tommy Kahnle, Alex Vesia, and Evan Phillips who managed to keep the Snakes from striking. In the case of Kahnle, the righty pitched a tidy 1-2-3 inning in the 6th for his first big-league work since May. Nice to see him back out there. I’m sure Doc is going to give him plenty of opportunities to throw in the next couple of weeks, so if he can shine, he’ll have a shot a roster spot in the playoffs.
While the 9th inning ended in a 2-2 tie, it very nearly ended right there, thanks to some daring (some might say foolhardy) baserunning from the Diamondbacks. Speedy Jake McCarthy led off with a single off of Evan Phillips, and then promptly followed it up with a steal of second. After a couple of groundouts moved him to third with two outs, McCarthy got bold. Phillips delivered a strike to hitter Corbin Carroll, but catcher Austin Barnes threw his pitcher a bit of a lollipop back to the mound, and just as the ball left his hand, McCarthy made a mad dash for home.
And damned if he didn’t almost pull it off. If not for a quick return throw from Evan Phillips, the game would have ended there and then. Instead, McCarthy was out at the plate, a call confirmed after replay review. The ballsy move had blown up in the Diamondbacks’ faces, and the game was on to extra innings (the Dodger fans’ favorite!)
Dodgers score, but Kimbrel gets walked off
Extra innings started off very well indeed. The Dodgers were greeted by old friend Reyes Moronta, who had pitched decently for the team during the summer months before getting his DFA at the end of August. He’s been pitching for the D-backs ever since, and it was he who was on the mound to try to keep the score close.
Hanser Alberto led off with a bunt to try to move the runner to third. Moronta fielded the ball off the mound, and turned to throw to first. Only problem was nobody was there. So the Dodgers had them cornered with nobody out. Things got even better when Moronta uncorked a wild pitch that scored the placed runner Austin Barnes from third. However, that was as much as the Dodgers could muster, so the game went to the bottom of the tenth with the Dodgers clinging to a one-run lead.
A walk. And then a walk-off…
Craig Kimbrel came in to pitch the 10th for the Dodgers, and his task was simple, but not easy: keep the D-backs from scoring, or at very least limit the damage to just one so that the Dodgers would live to see another inning. He came in, but you could tell he just wasn’t as sharp as he had been in previous outings. And because of it, Kimbrel walked the leadoff man Jake McCarthy. Never a good sign.
However, Kimbrel battled back. He got a strikeout, and a groundball to the right side, but with two outs, the potential winning run was in scoring position at second. Torey Luvello went to his bench and sent his team’s final hopes to the plate in the person of the light-hitting Sergio Alcantara, an infielder who has seen only limited action with Arizona. On a 2-1 count, Kimbrel threw him a good fastball up around his hand, but Alcantara somehow managed to get the bathead on it, and away it went. His drive to right was pretty much a goner off the bat, so all the Dodgers’ outfielders could do was shake their heads and make a quick retreat to the dugout because this one was over.
Final score: Dodgers 5, D-backs 3.
Dodgers finish off the road trip in SF
Having taken care of the business of clinching, the Dodgers head to San Francisco after an off-day for their final match-up with the suddenly hapless Giants. The Giants are playing sub-.500 baseball this season and trail the Dodgers in the standings by approximately twelve thousand games (okay, closer to 30 but who’s counting?).
To say that this series lacks the drama of last season would be an understatement. The Dodgers are probably going to start resting guys, but they need to be careful not to lift the foot off the accelerator too much, or they’ll be soft themselves in a month’s time. It’s Logan Webb in the first game on Friday night vs. some as-yet-unnamed Dodger starter. It’s about time for Dustin May‘s number to come up in the rotation again, so we’ll see if Code Red takes the mound. This one is an Apple TV+ exclusive, so start looking for that app on your menu. First pitch is 7:10.
Cans of Corn…
- Some pitching moves to catch up on from the last 48 hours. To make space for Grove in the lineup, famed Chippendale Dancer Andre Jackson was optioned back to OKC.
- In addition, Tommy Kahnle was activated before Tuesday’s game, and Heath Hembree will have to give up leads somewhere else from now on because he’s been designated for assignment to open up the roster spot for Kahnle.
