Mike Salas
Game 50, 5/20/2024: Dodgers 6, Diamondbacks 4
CHAVEZ RAVINE, CA – It’s funny to say it about a former MVP and perennial All-Star, but Freddie Freeman has been a bit of an afterthought for Dodger fans this year. With the otherworldly play of Shohei Ohtani and the scorching hot start from Mookie Betts, Freeman has become easily overlooked. Not on Monday night against the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Dodgers’ first baseman had his best night in a good little while, drilling a third inning grand slam that gave the team an insurmountable lead and they coasted the rest of the way to a 6-4 win over their NL West rivals.
Arizona came into LA to start off a three-game series against the Dodgers. Yoshinobu Yamamoto took the mound for the Dodgers into tonight’s game looking to get win number 5 of the season. The Diamondbacks called on reliever Joe Mantiply to make his first Major League start against the Dodgers in what was slated to be a bullpen game for the Snakes.
The D-Backs got on the board first, taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning with a Joc Pederson RBI single. But Kike Hernandez came up to bat in the bottom of the same frame against bulk guy Slade Cecconi and promptly blasted a solo HR to centerfield to tie the game up 1-1.
In that same inning, Miguel Rojas and Mookie Betts got on base with back-to-back singles and Shohei Ohtani took a walk to load the bases. Freddie Freeman came up to bat and cleared the bases with a grand slam to left center field to put the Dodgers up 5-1. After rounding the bases and getting the traditional sunflower seed shower, Freeman was beckoned out of the dugout by the chants of “Freddie! Freddie!” from the appreciative crowd. It was a nice moment shared between LA and their superstar infielder.
But the show wasn’t over yet. Will Smith came up next and blasted a solo HR to put the Dodgers up 6-1 over the Diamondbacks. It was the first time Dodgers have smashed back-to-back dingers since Shohei and Freddie accomplished the feat against the Marlins on May 6th.
With a healthy lead, manager Dave Roberts gave his starter a little more leash than usual. With his pitch count at exactly 100, the Dodgers skipper came to mound and took Yamamoto out after 6.1 strong innings pitched. It had been a solid outing all the way around for the Japanese righty. Yamamoto’s first two innings were amazing with four strikeouts and only one hit allowed. In the third, his command was off a little and he gave up four hits and one run. But he settled down after that adn ended his night with 6.1 IP / 2ER / 1BB / 8K / 3.17ERA. Anthony Banda came out of the bullpen for the second straight night to end the inning, giving up one hit and no earned runs.
Elieser Hernandez replaced Banda in the eighth inning and quickly gave up back-to-back homers to Lourdes Gurriel JR and Jake McCarthy that cut into the Dodgers lead to 6-4.
Daniel Hudson came into the ninth to close the game out. Kevin Newman grounds out to first, Corbin Carroll struck out, and Ketel Marte stuck out to end the game with the Dodgers winning 6-4.
Yamamoto gets his fifth win of the season, and the Dodgers are 21-6 over the month of May. Tomorrow’s game starts at 7:10pm West Coast time with Gavin Stone pitching for the Dodgers and Brandon Pfaadt for the Diamondbacks.
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