The Los Angeles Dodgers didn’t play a particularly inspiring game in the the field but their offense generated enough traction to come away with a 5-4 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks in the opener of a four-game series.
On the eve of playing a doubleheader, Tony Gonsolin provided the Dodgers with needed length by going six innings. He threw a career-high 92 pitches and finished with a season-best seven strikeouts.
Gonsolin did face an early deficit as Christian Walker led off the second inning with a solo homer, and that grew to 2-0 in the fourth because of sloppy defense.
Ketel Marte’s pop-up to shallow left field dropped for a leadoff double when Justin Turner was unable to make an over-the-shoulder catch. Trea Turner then booted a ground ball, leaving runners at the corners. Josh Rojas followed that with a sacrifice fly.
Gonsolin kept the Diamondbacks off the board after that, which allowed the Dodgers to come from behind for a second consecutive game.
They squandered an opportunity in the fourth inning as Freddie Freeman and Turner were both stranded after back-to-back singles with nobody out but didn’t let Madison Bumgarner off the hook in the fifth.
Chris Taylor led off with a double and Austin Barnes followed with a walk, which Mookie Betts cashed in on an RBI single. His hard-hit line drive into center field skipped under Alex Thomas’ glove and rolled to the wall for a two-base error that allowed a second run to score.
Freeman kept the rally going with an RBI double that gave L.A. a decided lead and prompted more chants from the Dodger Stadium faithful.
The Dodgers then created some separation against the Diamondbacks’ bullpen behind Taylor’s two-run home run to the opposite field.
Fresh off the 10-day injured list, Caleb Ferguson completed a scoreless inning in his first appearance since undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2020.
Craig Kimbrel surrendered a two-run home run to David Peralta before converting the save opportunity.
Dodgers bunting
The Dodgers are among the handful of teams without a sacrifice bunt this season, but several players were working on a drill prior to first pitch. Manager Dave Roberts gave words of encouragement to them and also offered some instruction.
That came to fruition when Max Muncy dropped down a bunt single to reach before Taylor’s home run. Muncy previously had one bunt single during the 2015 and 2019 seasons as well.
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