After Collapse, Dodgers Complete Epic Comeback in 9-7 Victory over D-Backs

If you didn't get your caffeine kick on Friday, the Dodgers and Diamondbacks had you covered.

Both teams batted around in a wild seventh inning as the Los Angeles Dodgers collapsed and then came back to beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 9-7 on Friday night at Dodger Stadium.

"Every win is a big one, but that was probably the best win of the year," Dodgers' manager Dave Roberts said. "We're resilient."

Los Angeles was cruising to a three-run lead when disaster struck in the top of the seventh inning.

Faster than a wildfire, the Diamondbacks scored seven runs in the top half of the seventh—the most runs LA has allowed in a single inning since 2015—wiping away the Dodgers lead and establishing a four-run lead of their own heading into the stretch.

"Blooper here, blooper there, a walk and all of a sudden they had bases loaded with no outs and we couldn't get out of it," Dodgers' catcher Yasmani Grandal said of the seventh-inning struggles. "Their best bat came up and did his job."

That "bat," was Paul Goldschmidt, who did most of the damage for the D-Backs in the inning as the Snakes' first baseman hit a bases-clearing, three-run double off Pedro Baez that punctuated the inning. Goldschimdt has 11 RBI in 10 games against the Dodgers this season.

But, like a caged lion forcing free from the bars of his prison, the Dodgers came roaring back in titillating fashion in the bottom half of the seventh. Joc Pederson and Chase Utley each hit a pair of two-run home runs and Yasmani Grandal capped off the epic comeback with an RBI single as LA erased a four-run deficit with a five-run response heard around the wild, wild, NL West.

"For them to score seven runs that inning and for us to battle back was impressive," Utley said of the exciting come-from-behind victory. "We didn't give up and had great at-bats all inning. I was looking to pull the ball in that situation and I got lucky and hit it out."

Kenta Maeda made the start for the Dodgers and pitched six innings of shutout baseball before he ran into troubled waters in the seventh. After allowing an RBI double to Welington Castillo, Maeda left with the lead, finishing with two runs on four hits in 6 and 1/3 innings in his fourth start against Arizona.

"We fight. We hit them and they hit us back," Castillo said. "They got two more runs than us and got the win, but we kept on competing and kept on attacking."

Zach Godley pitched opposite Maeda and allowed three runs on four hits in six innings for the no-decision in just his fourth start of the season.

Another Zac, Zac Curtis came into the game in relief and allowed the home run to Utley and a double to Corey Seager before he left the game for Randall Delgado. The right-hander allowed the game-winning single to Grandal hanging Curtis for the loss.

"I made two bad pitches," Curtis said after the game. "We played well enough to win. It was a tough loss, but we're resilient and we'll get past this."

Pederson had bookend two-run hits with a two-run double in the second and a two-run home run in the seventh. His 4 total RBI tied his career-high as the young centerfielder has been sensational since returning from the disabled list last week.

"I don't think we were playing like this a month ago," Pederson said of the team's performance. "We're coming up with a lot more clutch hits and we have a special thing going. That was fun to be a part of."

Rookie Andrew Toles reached base three times and knocked in the first run of his MLB career with a two-run double down the first base line in the fourth inning.

Kenley Jansen pitched a four-out save for his 31^st of the season and the Dodgers moved within one game of the San Francisco Giants for first place in the National League West.

"I wanted to pick up the team," Jansen said of his fourth save of four or more outs this season. "I went through a tough stretch last week, I felt like I could get six outs tonight, but they asked me and I told them I could get four outs."

LA has gained 5.5 games on the Giants since the All-Star break and their four-run rally on Friday was tied for their longest comeback win of the season.

Players of the Game:

Joc Pederson: 2-for-4 with a home run, 4 RBI and a run scored.
Chase Utley: Game-tying two-run homer.
Yasmani Grandal: Game-winning RBI single.

Three Takeaways:

1. Seventh Heaven: The Diamondbacks and Dodgers BOTH batted around in a wild 73-minute seventh inning that saw a combined 12 runs on 11 hits with eight different pitchers.

I'm not sure a seventh inning has ever been more deserving of a stretch. #Dodgers #Dbacks pic.twitter.com/x04q4KkKI6 — Mark Carlisle (@mwcarlisle) July 30, 2016

2. May the Force Be With You: Friday night was Star Wars night at Dodger Stadium as storm troopers, Darth Vader, R2D2, and more paraded around the field before the game and during the game throughout the stadium. Fans in attendance who purchased tickets from the team website received a free Star Wars shirt.

This squad is pretty cool too. �� #StarWarsNight pic.twitter.com/Ha7604RtEB — Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) July 30, 2016

3. Triple-Play Pleasure: During the epic seventh inning at Chavez Ravine, the San Francisco Giants had loaded the bases at AT&T Park with no outs against the Washington Nationals. With LA trailing and SF knocking on the door, Brandon Crawford hit into a triple-play, the first in Washington Nationals history, and the Dodgers came back to win, closing within one-game of the Giants for first place in the National League West.

that triple play the nats turned on the giants pic.twitter.com/fvsTzVe8F5 — nick pants (@nick_pants) July 30, 2016

Up Next:

Diamondbacks (42-61): Braden Shipley gets the start for Arizona on Saturday night.

Dodgers (58-45): Scott Kazmir gets the call for Los Angeles at 6:10PM PST on Saturday at Chavez Ravine.