The Los Angeles Dodgers erased an early deficit and after failing to maintain their own lead, pulled ahead again in the eighth inning for a 3-2 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks for a third straight victory. Rangel Ravelo delivered the would-be walk-off hit.
Clayton Kershaw had a scoreless streak of 30 innings in Spring Training snapped when David Peralta opened the game with a home run to right field. Kershaw settled in from there, retiring six of the next seven batters faced.
The only to reach during that stretch was Josh VanMeter on Chris Taylor’s throwing error in the second inning. Kershaw then stranded a two-out double in the third to complete his scheduled night of work.
He threw 43 pitches, had a particularly effective slider, allowed just the one run and collected three strikeouts. Kershaw’s fastball velocity was 88 to 90 mph, which was lower than the 90-93 mph prediction from manager Dave Roberts before the game.
Though, Roberts noted velocity was not of any concern at this time due to Kershaw feeling healthy. After coming out of the game, Kershaw said the outing wasn’t to the level of his spring debut, but overall he “felt fine.”
Kenley Jansen was first to follow Kershaw, and his relief appearance began with back-to-back strikeouts. Jansen then allowed a single but faced the minimum due to VanMeter being thrown out on his attempt to stretch it to a double.
Blake Treinen entered in the fifth inning and immediately faced trouble due to hitting a batter and allowing a single. The Diamondbacks tied the game two groundouts later, with Peralta picking up his second RBI of the night.
Victor Gonzalez struggled with his command and issued a pair of walks in the sixth inning. He was bailed out by Luke Raley making a diving catch in the gap to end the inning.
Offensively, the Dodgers were largely held to a Corey Seager two-run home run that gave them a lead in the third inning. The homer was Seager’s second in his past two games.
L.A. had a golden opportunity to take the lead in the bottom of the seventh when a walk and single put runners at the corners with nobody out. However, the next three batters struck out to end the threat.
A dropped pop-up to start the bottom of the eighth allowed Raley to reach second base, and Ravelo followed with a ground-rule double. The teams continued playing until three outs were recorded, providing Minor Leaguers with an opportunity to get repetitions.
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