After drubbing Zack Greinke and the Arizona Diamondbacks in Monday’s series opener, the Los Angeles Dodgers looked to capitalize on facing Shelby Miller, who’s struggled for much of the year. Arizona drew Ross Stripling, who was the third straight rookie to start for the Dodgers.
A.J. Pollock got the Diamondbacks on the board in the first inning with a two-out solo home run hit halfway up the pavilion. Paul Goldschmidt’s recent rut against the Dodgers continued as he struck out to end the first inning.
Corey Seager singled with one out and moved into scoring position on a passed ball. He then scored on Justin Turner’s fly-ball single to right field that Yasmany Tomas was unable to make a diving catch on.
Miller limited the damage by inducing a pair of fly ball outs from Yasmani Grandal and Adrian Gonzalez. Stripling worked a 1-2-3 second, ending the inning with back-to-back strikeouts.
Josh Reddick led off the bottom of the second but was cut down at home plate for the second out on Andrew Toles’ double. Stripling then helped his cause by hacking away, slapping an RBI single down the first-base line.
A Seager lead off single in the third was followed by a Turner ground-rule double. Jean Segura made a terrific diving stop to rob Grandal of a hit, but it still resulted in an RBI groundout. Reddick tacked on an RBI base hit and so did Toles before Miller could work his way out of the inning.
The Diamondbacks cut into their deficit in the fourth, sparked by a Chris Owings leadoff double. Goldschmidt’s single left runners on the corners, and Jake Lamb’s sacrifice fly scored Owings. Gonzalez was stranded in the bottom of the fifth after leading off with a double.
Stripling’s night came to an end after 66 pitches over five innings. He was seen stretching in the dugout and talking with a trainer. Josh Fields was the first Dodgers reliever to see action, and he retired the Diamondbacks in order in the sixth.
Pedro Baez worked around Welington Castillo’s two-out double in the seventh to preserve the Dodgers’ 5-2 lead. The Dodgers failed to muster so much as a hit in the bottom half of the inning, giving Diamondbacks pitchers seven consecutive batters retired to that point.
Joe Blanton issued a walk in the eighth inning but didn’t let it amount to anything. Kenley Jansen came on in the ninth and shut the door to earn a save in the Dodgers’ 5-2 victory. With the win, Los Angeles kept pace with the San Francisco Giants and maintained a four-game lead in the National League West.
