Mookie Betts flashed a cannon of an arm early and provided much of the offense, but he needed a few more inches on his reach to prevent the Los Angeles Dodgers from suffering a 5-3 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks.
It snapped their three-game losing streak and prevented the Dodgers from keeping pace with the San Diego Padres (6-2) for the most wins in baseball.
L.A. took a 3-1 lead into the bottom of the eighth inning, when trouble arose. An error and walk put two runners on with one out, and they both advanced on a slow grounder to shortstop. Blake Treinen then intentionally walked Eduardo Escobar to set up a right-on-right matchup.
However, that went in favor of the Diamondbacks, as Christian Walker lined a go-ahead triple to right-center field. Betts gave chase but the ball was hit well and he didn’t take the most optimal route.
Treinen gave way to Joe Kelly, who immediately uncorked a wild pitch and allowed a run to score before working out of his own bases-loaded jam. Archie Bradley walked Matt Beaty and allowed a single to Betts before converting the save.
His final out was Cody Bellinger, as the reigning National League MVP remained mired in a slump.
On the mound for his first game this year, Tony Gonsolin’s start nearly began the same as his MLB debut last season, which also came at Chase Field. In that outing Gonsolin allowed four runs before managing to record an out.
On Friday, Ketel Marte led off the bottom of the first inning with a double that landed just fair down the right-field line. Betts raced over to field it and uncorked a perfect throw to nail Marte on his attempt to leg out a triple.
That wound up being the lone hit Gonsolin allowed in his four scoreless innings of work. He reached the target set by Dodgers manager Dave Roberts prior to first pitch.
The 2018 American League MVP then added to his highlight reel with a leadoff home run in the fourth inning to break a scoreless tie. The homer was Betts’ first this season and marked the Dodgers’ first hit of the game.
Betts doubled the Dodgers’ lead the following inning with an RBI single through a hole on the right side of the infield. Those were the only two runs allowed by Diamondbacks rookie Zac Gellen. He struck out the side to start the game and finished with nine strikeouts across six innings.
Kole Calhoun’s RBI double in the sixth inning cut the Dodgers’ lead in half. Corey Seager provided what was insurance at the time with a solo home run in the eighth inning.
Seager had already singled in the game, ensuring he’s reached safely in all eight games this season. The solo blast marked three consecutive nights with a home run to tie the longest such streak of Seager’s career, which was initially set Aug. 13-15, 2019.
Victor Gonzalez makes MLB debut
One day after being recalled, Victor Gonzalez entered in relief for his MLB debut. The Dodgers view Gonzalez as a starter long-term but anticipate utilizing him out of the bullpen this season.
Gonzalez stranded a leadoff single and hit batter for a scoreless fifth, but was removed after Calhoun’s run-scoring double in the sixth.
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