Dodgers sweep Arizona to finish perfect homestand

LOS ANGELES — The closer we get to the finish line, the more important it is to take care of business. The Dodgers are a vastly better team than the Arizona Diamondbacks, so they should sweep them when they are at home. And that is just what they did. In a flurry of hits, the Dodgers put up runs in four different innings, and got another solid start from Julio Urias. It all added up to a 5-3 victory over the D-backs, finishing up a 6-0 homestand that was very needed after a disappointing road trip. The Dodgers go to bed tonight knowing that they trail the Giants by just 1 1/2 games in the standings.

Dodger hitting on point in finale

It finally seems like the Dodgers are getting production up and down the lineup. Just in the nick of time. On Wednesday night, it was the bottom half of the batting order that got the scoring started in the bottom of the second inning. Justin Turner started it off with a one-out single, followed quickly a Will Smith walk and another single from Cody Bellinger to load the bases. Then, the suddenly reliable Gavin Lux came to the plate, trying to finish up a very good homestand with a bang. He did just that by hitting a looping single into right field to score the Dodgers’ first run of the game. Unfortunately, that was as much as the team would score in the inning, as Julio Urias grounded into a double play to end the threat.

Urias gives up two, but secures 18th win

Dodgers starter Julio Urias pitched through the first three innings without incident, but the Diamondbacks broke through in the fourth when Urias surrendered a rare hit with runners in scoring position. With two out, Henry Ramos came up big for the visitors with a groundball single to center that scored two runs and staked the D-backs to a 2-1 lead. It would be the only runs that Urias would give up on the night, and though he was still under 80 pitches, skipper Dave Roberts pulled his lefty ace after five innings of work in line for his league-leading 18th win of the season. His line for the night: 5.0 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 5 K.

Dodgers take the lead in the middle innings

The Dodgers came right back at D’backs starter Merrill Kelly in the fourth and fifth innings. They got a pair in the fourth; one on an RBI groundout from Cody Bellinger and the other on Gavin Lux’s second RBI single of the night. In the last seven games, Lux is hitting .389 with an OPS over .900. A stark difference from the scuffling Lux who was sent back to OKC in late August.

Then, in the fifth inning, Max Muncy hit an absolute bullet out of the yard to right for a solo shot. It was Muncy’s third home run on the home stand, and he is back to really contributing out of the two hole. But Muncy’s heroics were just the tip of the iceberg. It was a total team victory on the offensive side, as the Dodgers got 14 hits on the night. Muncy was 2-for-5, Justin Turner 3-for-4, Will Smith 2-for-3, Gavin Lux 2-for-4 and on and on. More of this please.

Trea with the wheels

After a Christian Walker home run cut the Dodgers’ lead to 4-3, the Dodgers manufactured a run in the sixth. After Matt Beaty was hit by a pitch for the tenth time this year, he moved to second on a Mookie Betts single. Beaty advanced to third when Max Muncy grounded into a double play, which brought up the speedy Trea Turner. Turner would need every ounce of that speed to leg out an infield hit on a ground ball to second base. Beaty came down the line to score, and the Dodgers had a two-run lead once again.

Vesia, Treinen, Jansen finish off the D’backs

With four innings to cover, the bullpen did just fine. Although Phil Bickford gave up another home run (the Walker blast in the sixth), the rest of the night went well. Alex Vesia threw a scoreless seventh, Blake Treinen walked a couple of guys but was aided by a double play in the eighth. Finally, Kenley Jansen shut the door with a business-like 1-2-3 ninth.

Dodgers inch closer to Giants

Meanwhile in San Francisco, the Padres finally got their act together and got a win over the Giants, which cut the deficit in the NL West to a game and a half. The Giants have one more with the Padres on the Dodgers’ travel day tomorrow, so when the Dodgers get to first pitch on Friday night, that half game will be eliminated one way or the other. It would be nice to have a one game space between the teams heading into the weekend. For the next 24 hours or so, we are all Padre fans (I know it feels icky, but desperate times call for desperate measures).