Eight more wins.
Cody Bellinger and Austin Barnes both homered off former teammate Zack Greinke, and the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks, 3-1, in Game 3 of the NLDS to complete the sweep of their division rivals.
The Dodgers didn't greet their old teammate with hugs and handshakes, instead they greeted him with hits and home runs, as Bellinger seemingly did it all for the Boys in Blue on Monday night.
After a leadoff double to Chris Taylor to start the game, Bellinger brought him home on a fielder's choice groundout to first base three batters later, and the Dodgers jumped out to an early 1-0 lead.
Kendrick Lamar could have done the play-by-play in the top of the fifth as Bellinger's "left stroke just went viral!' when he crushed an 87MPH changeup from Greinke to opposite field for his first career postseason home run.
Bellinger became the youngest Dodger to hit a home run in postseason history at the age of 22 years and 88 days old, surpassing teammate Corey Seager, who homered last year in the NLDS at the age of 22 years and 163 days.
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Daniel Descalso put the Diamondbacks on the board in the bottom of the fifth inning when Yu Darvish hung a slider to the left-hand hitting second baseman and the lead was cut in half, 2-1.
Daniel Descalso his hitting .400 with a 1.771 OPS this #postseason. He has 2 HRs and a double. pic.twitter.com/p0aI1eQQcA
— FOX Sports Arizona (@FOXSPORTSAZ) October 10, 2017
Bellinger did it with his bat and his glove as he made the defensive play of the game when he fell over the railing of the Dodgers' dugout to make a sensational catch in foul territory to end the fifth inning.
HOW, Cody Bellinger?! https://t.co/BfIoYiHw48 pic.twitter.com/ujCahqsXNj
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) October 10, 2017
Despite throwing 103 pitches through five innings, Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo sent Greinke (0-1) back to the mound for the top of the sixth inning, and he was promptly greeted by old batterymate Austin Barnes who crushed a curveball into the left field seats for his first home run of the postseason.
The home run to Barnes would turn out to be Greinke's final pitch of the game, and the postseason, as he allowed three runs on four hits with five walks and four strikeouts in five total innings.
Meanwhile, his counterpart, Yu Darvish, was absolutely filthy through the first four innings for the Dodgers.
The midseason trade acquisition for the Dodgers lived up to his hype as he allowed just one hit—a bunt single—through the first four and 2/3 innings.
After the Descalso homer, Darvish struggled with his command in the top of the sixth, beaning pinch-hitter Christian Walker with a fastball to the head in the top of the sixth inning.
Christian Walker’s life flashed before his eyes pic.twitter.com/XWVKYQLA4x
— Baseball Bros (@BaseballBros) October 10, 2017
Darvish (1-0) would leave the game immediately after, finishing the best start of his postseason career with one run allowed on just two hits with no walks and seven strikeouts in five innings.
Yu Darvish's Slider to Paul Goldschmidt was downright FILTHY. pic.twitter.com/nd3fwwL2fh
— Pitcher List (@ThePitcherList) October 10, 2017
With the victory, Darvish became just the fourth Japanese born pitcher to win a playoff game as a starter, joining Daisuke Matsuzaka, Hiroki Kuroda, and Masahiro Tanaka.
In his two previous postseason starts with the Texas Rangers, Darvish had a record of 0-2 with a 5.40 ERA.
The Dodgers bullpen picked up where Darvish left off as Tony Cingrani, Brandon Morrow, Kenta Maeda and Kenley Jansen combined to throw four innings of scoreless relief.
Kenley Jansen earned his second save of the series as the closer appeared in all three games for the Dodgers of the NLDS.
The Dodgers have won their last eight series clinching games on the road in the postseason and sweep a playoff series for the first time since they defeated the St. Louis Cardinals in the NLDS in 2009 in three games.
Up Next:
The Dodgers will have the next four days off to rest and reset their pitching rotation as they get ready to host the winner of the NLDS between the Chicago Cubs and Washington Nationals on Saturday in Game 1 of the NLCS at Dodger Stadium.
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