Steve Webb
PHOENIX, AZ — The exuberance of youth. The wisdom of experience. The 2023 Dodgers have both. And never have they been more on display than in Wednesday’s 2-0 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks. Rookie Bobby Miller pitched perhaps his best game in the majors, going six plus scoreless, and working out of a couple of tight spots. Veteran David Peralta continued to come up clutch, and he delivered a bases-loaded, two-run single that proved to be the difference in the game.
For much of this game, it was a pitcher’s duel between Miller and Arizona’s Merrill Kelly. They both pitched six scoreless innings before things got interesting in the seventh. Merrill Kelly came out for the top of the frame, but cramped up and had to come out of the game at only 83 pitches. The Dodgers did not score in the inning, but were more than happy to see Kelly hit the bench, as they’d only managed a handful of hits against him and no runs.
Likewise, Miller took the mound for the seventh, put left the game without recording another out. For Miller, though, it wasn’t an injury that forced him out. It was back-to-back walks to open the inning that did him in. He had managed to get out of a similar jam in the 6th when an excuse-me swing double down the third base line by Geraldo Perdomo that put runners at second and third with nobody out. In that inning, Miller went strikeout, lineout, strikeout to end the threat. But in the seventh, he had come to the end of the line with manager Dave Robert. He was pulled from the game and could only watch as Caleb Ferguson inherited his baserunners and his mess.
However, at that point the game took a wild turn. Geraldo Perdomo came up to bat, looking to bunt both runners into scoring position. Instead, he lined the ball softly to Ferguson glove side, just short of the the mound. Ferguson dove for the ball and snatched it out of the air for the first out, then whipped the ball to second to double up the runner at that base. A couple pitches later and the inning was over.
In the eighth, the Dodgers had their best scoring opportunity of the game. And it came, as it so often seems to this year, with two outs. After retiring the first two Dodgers he faced, lefty reliever Kyle Nelson gave up a ground-rule double to (who else?) Freddie Freeman. Snakes manager Torey Lovullo opted to intentionally walk the righthanded Will Smith to get into a lefty-lefty match-up with Max Muncy. However, Muncy worked a good at-bat and drew a walk to load up the bases.
Now, manager Dave Roberts had a decision to make. Does he pull David Peralta, in the lineup to face the righthander Kelly, and have a more favorable matchup with a righthanded bat off the bench, or does he go ride or die with Peralta, even though the analytics told him to make the move? Roberts let Peralta hit, and Dodger fans were happier for it.
Peralta got ahead 2-1 until Kelly threw him a slider that hung out over the plate a little bit. He ripped a line drive past the second baseman and into right field for a two-run single. And that was all the Dodgers needed to secure the victory in this one.
“I just felt that David was in the game, he’s been hanging in there vs. lefties. I don’t think that Nelson has a wipeout slider,” Roberts said. “I thought ‘David is going to put the ball in play.’ And so I went with it, and to his credit, it was a good at-bat and it won the game for us.”
“It was huge for me for [Roberts] to trust and give me the trust and the confidence in that situation,” Peralta said. “I was just trying to calm down and do my job. … It’s not to put pressure on myself, but I came through and helped the team win, which is huge.”
With the mini-sweep in Phoenix, the Dodgers head home a full six games ahead of the rival Giants in the division. And while there is plenty of baseball left to play, it kind of feels like the Dodgers are in complete control of the NL West at this point. And even more good news, the starter of Thursday’s game back at Chavez Ravine will be none other than Clayton Edward Kershaw, making his long-awaiting return to the mound against the Colorado Rockies. Good thing are happening, Dodger fans. Good things. Game time on Thursday will be 7:10 pm. Lefty Ty Blach will be pitching for the Rockies, so that means Wednesday’s hero might just be rewarded with el bencho to start the series.
Or not. We’ll see how frisky Dave Roberts is feeling.
