Gloves shine in Dodgers’ win in the desert

PHOENIX — Sometimes you have to win the game with your defense. Even when you have the best lineup in baseball. In the first game of their final road series of the season, the Dodgers got four fantastic plays from their outfielders to keep the Diamondbacks at bay. They got just enough offense along the way, and four zeroes from the bullpen en route to a 4-2 win over Arizona.

Dodger bats show up ready to hit

The Dodgers didn’t waste any time putting the pressure on D’backs starter Humberto Castellanos. They got the first two men on in the first, but their threat was erased by a double play. However, in the second inning, they broke through with three runs. Will Smith led off with a solid double off the right field wall. And, the very next hitter, Justin Turner, brought him home with an opposite field single after a very good at-bat.

Then, up came AJ Pollock, who had already put his mark on the game with his glove when he scaled the left field wall to rob Josh Rojas of extra bases in the first inning. Pollock has gained quite the reputation for punishing his former employers the Diamondbacks, and he stuck to that script on Friday night. With Turner on first, Pollock drilled a no-doubter off Castellanos over the left field fence for a two-run home run. The Dodgers were up 3-0, and only needed to protect the lead the rest of the way.

Gonsolin aided by some good defense

Tony Gonsolin had a good outing tonight, especially with his off-speed stuff. However, the Snakes were barreling up the Cat Man’s heater pretty well. Luckily for Gonsolin, he got some help from some good defense from unlikely places. After he had surrendered a solo shot from Kole Calhoun in the second, Gonsolin cruised through the rest of the second and the third, but got into trouble in the fourth when Daulton Varsho hit a one-out single. Then, Calhoun barreled up another one, sending a long fly deep into the right centerfield gap. But, who should read the ball perfectly and flag it down on a dead run? None other than “veteran” centerfielder Gavin Lux.

Gonsolin had some bad luck in the fifth inning when he threw a “wild pitch” on the the third strike to Pavin Smith. The bad luck was multiplied when Josh Van Meter, who shouldn’t have even been up in the inning, hit a two-out single to score the D’backs’ second run of the evening. Overall though, it was a good outing for Gonsolin. He went five innings on the night and struck out seven. In addition to the Calhoun homer, he gave up only a pair of singles all night. Not too shabby.

Dodgers add insurance in the sixth

Though the D’backs had gotten a cheap run in the bottom of the fifth, the Dodgers got the run right back in the sixth. Trea Turner led off with a nice double to left. Max Muncy followed it up with a single, but Turner only made it to third because he had to hold to see if the ball would be caught. However, he came home to score on a Will Smith sac fly to extend the Dodgers’ lead to 4-2. However, there could have been a lot more damage in this game, in this inning and throughout the game. In all the Dodgers went 2-11 with runners in scoring position, and left a lot of runs stranded on the bags in this one.

Bullpen a little shaky, but puts up zeroes

The Dodgers bullpen is a big reason the team has done so well this year. And on Friday, it showed why. Even though three of their four relievers struggled a bit, they all were able to come through and make the pitches when they needed to. Alex Vesia was able to work around a walk and a hit thanks to two strikeouts. Corey Knebel was sharp pitching a clean seventh. Blake Treinen was having trouble finding the plate in the eighth. For the second straight night, Treinen looked uncomfortable on the mound as he tried to work out of his own mess. However, he came through with a strikeout of Kole Calhoun, and exited the mound with a zero on the board.

CT3 saves the day

Kenley Jansen came on for the save, but he wasn’t the story of the ninth inning. Instead, it was defensive replacement Chris Taylor who should be getting the save in this one. CT3 made two straight brilliant defensive plays, diving and stretching to turn what looked like a pair of sure hits into the first and second out of the inning. Then, Kenley finished things off with a strikeout of Carson Kelly. Final score Dodgers 4, Diamondbacks 2

Dodgers keep pace with Giants

The Giants had an easier time of it against the Rockies earlier in the evening, so both contenders came away with a W on Friday night. With the standings unchanged, the Dodgers forge ahead with the D’backs on Saturday. Clayton Kershaw gets the ball, and it will be interesting to see how far skipper Dave Roberts is willing to extend the Dodgers’ lefty ace this time around. He went 74 pitches and five innings in Cincy, so hopefully we can see somewhere in the neighborhood of 90 on Saturday. Either way, the bullpen will be at the ready, poised to put up as many zeroes as needed.