Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts made a handful of changes to his lineup in the rubber match against the Arizona Diamondbacks, stacking it with several right-handed batters against Robbie Ray.
The southpaw quickly worked his way through the first inning, inducing three groundouts on 10 pitches, all of which were strikes. Kenta Maeda didn’t fare nearly as well in the bottom of the first after retiring the first batter faced.
Michael Bourn and Paul Goldschmidt combined for back-to-back singles to put runners on the corners. Jake Lamb followed with a sinking line drive that landed in front of Yasiel Puig’s diving attempt in center field for an RBI single.
Brandon Drury followed with a two-run double to right-center field for the the fourth consecutive hit off of Maeda. Scott Van Slyke continued his success against southpaws with a leadoff double in the second inning.
Ray then lost his command, hitting Puig on the first pitch of the at-bat and walking Chris Taylor on a full count to load the bases with no outs. However, the Dodgers sputtered as A.J. Ellis and Zach Walters and struck out.
Maeda flied out to center to end the inning with the Dodgers still trailing, 3-0. A bizarre moment occurred on a pop up by Nick Ahmed to lead off the bottom of the second. Ellis collided with the shortstop as he went to track the ball, which resulted in Ahmed being called out on interference.
Maeda then retired the next two batters for an easy second inning. A Howie Kendrick leadoff walk was erased as Corey Seager grounded into a double play. Justin Turner struck out but managed to reach as the ball got by Tuffy Gosewisch.
Ray then hit Van Slyke with a pitch to put runners on first and second. Nothing came of it however, as Puig grounded out on the first pitch he saw. Lamb added to his big series with a two-run solo shot to center field in the bottom of the third.
Maeda’s four runs allowed through three innings marked the third time he’d allowed that many in his past five starts. Taylor led off the fourth with a base hit but was forced out at second on a Walters grounder.
Taylor was initially ruled safe before the Diamondbacks successfully challenged the call. Ray then induced Maeda into a groundout to complete a fourth scoreless inning. Maeda retired the side in order in the bottom of the fourth, ending the inning on back-to-back strikeouts.
Seager doubled with one out in the fifth only to be stranded by Turner and Van Slyke. Ray led off the bottom half of the inning with a double to right-center field and later scored on Bourn’s double to left field.
Maeda was removed after walking Goldschmidt to put two on with one out. J.P. Howell entered and got the Dodgers out of the inning without further damage. The five runs Maeda allowed set a season high. The Dodgers continued to spin their wheels in the sixth with Taylor grounding into a double play after Puig’s leadoff single.
Chris Hatcher gave up a pair of singles in the bottom of the seventh and allowed a run to come across on a wild pitch. Turner got the Dodgers on the board in the eighth by following Seager’s second double of the game with an opposite-field two-run homer.
Chase Utley worked a leadoff walk and Kendrick reached on an infield single to put two on with one out. Seager’s third double of the game scored Utley and cut the Dodgers’ deficit to 6-3. Jake Barrett replaced Tyler Clippard and fell behind in the count 3-0.
Turner drove the fourth pitch of his at-bat into left-center field for a two-run single. Andrew Toles followed with a chopper into center field that allowed Turner to go first to third abse. Barrett then settled in and struck out Puig and Taylor and the Diamondbacks hung on for a 6-5 victory.
