Last night took an L, but tonight I bounce back.
The Dodgers bullpen combined for 7 and 2/3 innings of relief and Los Angeles held on to defeat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 2-1, on Wednesday night at Chase Field.
The Dodgers were hoping that starter Hyun-Jin Ryu could go deep into the game after going 3-0 with a 1.46 ERA since April 2nd, but luck was not on L.A.'s side as Ryu left the game in the second inning with a left groin strain.
"We're taking a scan tomorrow morning, but just by the talk from the training staff it's a pretty good one," said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts of the strain. "He's had some history with the left groin and we'll know more tomorrow. It's a big loss."
Ryu's early exit put all the impetuts on the Dodgers struggling bullpen, which was ranked worst in the Major Leagues over the last eight games allowing 25 runs in 23 innings with an 8.49 ERA over that span.
Thankfully, the bullpen bounced back, as Pedro Baez took over threw Ryu in the second inning and threw a career-high 42 pitches in 2 and 2/3 innings of relief.
Baez passed the baton along as Daniel Hudson, Tony Cingrani and Josh Fields combined to throw four scoreless innings of relief with All-Star closer Kenley Jansen earning his fourth save of the season.
"They got the MVP for the night," Roberts said of his bullpen. "They've taken a lot of criticism and obviously they haven’t performed. Tonight we had no margin for error against a team playing very well and each one of those guys stepped up. They all rose to the occasion tonight."
The Dodgers got on the board first after a one-out double from rookie Alex Verudgo. Verdugo advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored two batters later on an RBI single by Cody Bellinger.
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Verdugo scored both runs for the Dodgers as he doubled again in the eighth inning, promptly stole third base, and scored on a sacrifice fly by Yasmani Grandal.
Verdugo finished 2-for-4 with two doubles and two runs scored.
The Diamondbacks threatened to score late, as they put runners on the corners with one out for red-hot A.J. Pollock in the bottom of the eighth inning. The National League Player of the Month for April hit a hard one-hopper to short, but Kiké Hernandez made a sensational snag to turn a double play and end the inning.
"That's the play of the year up to this point," Roberts said of the double play. "I count on him [Hernandez] a lot in a lot of capacities and that backhand play off the bat of Pollock was unbelievable. For him [Hernandez] to bail him [Josh Fields] out to get two outs on one pitch. He's a special player, he really is."
The Snakes scored a run in the bottom of the ninth after Jansen walked Daniel Descalso and then allowed an RBI single to John Ryan Murphy before getting Alex Avila to fly out to left field to end the game.
Zack Godley was the hard-luck loser for the Diamondbacks, allowing just one run on five hits with three walks and five strikeouts in six innings.
The victory snapped the Dodgers eight-game losing streak against Arizona at Chase Field.
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Up Next:
The Dodgers will look to split the series with the first place Diamondbacks when LHP Alex Wood takes the mound against undefeated LHP Patrick Corbin on Thursday at 12:40PM PST.
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