Dodgers Shutout Again, Swept in the Desert
The Los Angeles Dodgers (2-4) faced off against the Arizona Diamondbacks (4-1) again this afternoon in the series finale at Chase Field. Trying to end their regular season losing streak of 8-games against the D-backs, the Dodgers turned to their number two starting pitcher, Alex Wood, hoping to change the momentum.
Wood, who had an All-Star season in 2017 with a 16-3 record, 2.72 ERA and 1.057 WHIP, received a “no decision” in his first match-up this season against the Giants despite eight shutout innings. Seeking his first win this year, Wood matched up with Diamondbacks starting pitcher, Patrick Corbin, who went 14-13 last season with a 4.03 ERA and 1.418 WHIP.
The Diamondbacks struck fast and quick beginning the game with a lead-off double by Jarrod Dyson. Wood would get Ketel Marte to ground out but would advance Dyson to third base in the process followed by another ground out by D-backs first baseman, Paul Goldschmidt, that would score Dyson and put the D-backs up 1-0.
In the second, the D-backs were back at it with a lead-off double by Chris Owings, who hit the game-tying homer off of Kenley Jansen in the 9th inning of Monday night’s game. Owings would then steal third and would score off of a sac-fly by Deven Marrero to increase the lead 2-0. The third inning was similar to the first two as Wood surrendered yet another lead-off double, this time by Arizona pitcher, Patrick Corbin. A sacrifice bunt would advance Corbin to third and a single by Ketel Marte would score the runner as the D-backs took a 3-0 lead, which would be the final score of the game.
Corbin, who went 2-2 at the plate with a run scored, did even more damage with his arm, tossing 7.1 shutout innings of one-hit ball, walking only one and striking out 12 – a career high. The Dodgers offense has now produced only 2 runs in the last 24 innings of play and only had 4 base runners the entire game today, one of which was Matt Kemp who hit a double in the 5th inning and the other three being walks, two of which were in the 9th inning.
The one highlight for the Dodgers came in the 6th inning when Owings hit into a rare 4-2-5-3-4 double play.
With today’s loss, the Dodgers (2-5) now have their worst start to a season in 20 years including three shutout losses while the Diamondbacks (5-1) have tied their franchise-best start to a season. The Dodgers will get tomorrow off before heading to San Francisco to take on the struggling Giants in a best of three series at AT&T Park beginning Friday night at 7:15pm PST.
BakoBoyInBlue
