Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
Howie “Singles Hitter” Kendrick hit a game-tying non-single with a homer, and then came through with the game-winning hit in the form of a bases-loaded single after Adrian Gonzalez was intentionally walked.
In contrast to last night, the Dodgers offense struggled for most of the game against Diamondbacks starter Robbie Ray. Ray pitched six quality innings, allowing only the aforementioned Howie Kendrick solo shot. However, after retiring the first two batters of the seventh inning, Ray’s wildness finally got the better of him after he walked Chris Heisey on four pitches that weren’t particularly close and was relieved by former closer Addison Reed. Yasiel Puig, who is 5-for-11 since returning, promptly doubled to left-center to put runners on second and third for A-Gon. Or at least that was the case until the Diamondbacks opted for an intentional walk, which may have been the correct move in theory but ended up producing a bad result.
On the pitching end of things, Carlos Frias surrendered five hits to the first seven batters he faced, but managed to allow only a single run thanks to Yasmani Grandal catching two runners stealing in the first two innings. From that point on, Frias settled down in a big way, allowing only three more hits and getting through 6.2 innings at only 88 pitches. It’s as surprising to me as it is anybody else, but for all the hand-wringing over the rotation, that’s been the least of the Dodgers’ problems since Brandon McCarthy and Hyun Jin Ryu were ruled out for the season. Hopefully that will continue, though I remain cautious on that front.
Anyway, Adam Liberatore entered in relief with runners on first and second and struck out lead-off hitter Ender Inciarte to end the threat. Then Yimi Garcia and Kenley Jansen followed with scoreless innings of their own to lock down the win.
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Bonus Andre Ethier anger!
