Paul Goldschmidt went 3 for 4 with 3 RBIs including a three-run homer in the third inning and Ender Inciarte hit the walk-off single in the bottom of the 10th as the Arizona Diamondbacks defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-3 in 10 innings to open LA’s first road trip of the season.
Coming into the game, the Dodgers had won 15 of the their last 19 games against Arizona dating back to the start of last season. One Achilles heel from last season was the Dodgers record in extra innings games. Last season, LA was a paltry 6-12 in games that were decided after the ninth inning. That record appears to have carried over into this season, as the boys in blue dropped their first extra innings game of the year in their first road game of the young season.
Cliff Pennington came into pinch-hit in the bottom of the 10th with one out and dew a walk off Dodgers reliever J.P. Howell (0-1). Pennington took second on a wild pitch and then stole third easily off Howell who appeared to have fallen asleep on the play.
After walking Goldschmidt, Dodgers manager Don Mattingly brought right-fielder, Yasiel Puig, in from the outfield to play third base in a make-shift, five-man infield. The five-man defense proved to be futile however as Inciarte hit a ground ball past first baseman Adrian Gonzalez to give the Diamondbacks the victory.
The Diamondbacks wanted no part of Gonzalez on offense. The Mexican-American slugger known as “Titan,” came into the game with a MLB record, five home runs in his first three games of the season. Gonzalez went 1-2 with two walks, ending his home-run hitting streak of five consecutive games dating back to last season. Gonzalez also had a streak of three straight games with three hits or more snapped.
Yasmani Grandal’s first hit as a Dodger was a home run to right center in the 4th inning, that got the Dodgers on the board and brought them closer in the score at 3-1. An inning later, Jimmy Rollins would cap off LA’s fourth consecutive come back with a two-run double to right center that knotted the game at 3-3.
Other than Howell, the Dodgers bullpen was excellent on Friday night as Yimi Garcia pitched two innings of shutout ball with four strikeouts. Joel Peralta appears to be the new Dodgers interim closer after picking up his first save of the season on Wednesday against the Padres. Peralta pitched a perfect ninth for LA to send the game into extra innings.
Brett Anderson made his Dodgers debut and tried to turn back the clock in the desert. Anderson has battled injuries the better part of the past three seasons with the Oakland Athletics and Colorado Rockies. The Dodgers are hoping he can find his 2009-2010 form that got him 18 wins over two seasons. Other than the mistake to Goldschmidt, Anderson pitched well going six innings, allowing three runs on five hits with four strikeouts.
Chase Anderson (no relation), started for the D-backs and went five innings, surrendering three runs on five hits, striking out six.
Arizona reliever, Oliver Perez (1-0), pitched a perfect 10th for his first win of the season.
Game Notes:
Andre Ethier celebrated his 33rd birthday on Friday. The Arizona native pinch-hit in the 9th inning. Carl Crawford extended his hitting streak to 11 games dating back to last season.
