Arizona signed Evan Longoria during the offseason, hoping the three-time All-Star could provide some leadership for a young roster working to rise in the NL West.
It also helps that the 37-year-old infielder is still a pretty good baseball player.
Longoria and rookie Corbin Carroll hit back-to-back homers in the sixth inning off Clayton Kershaw, lifting the Diamondbacks over the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-3 on Friday night.
“I want to produce on the field, first and foremost," Longoria said. “When I came here, there was a lot of talk about being a mentor, but I'm still putting on a uniform to go out and play the game. I don't just want to go 0 for 4 and be the guy who guys are asking questions like, 'How was it 15 years ago?”
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Kershaw took a 3-2 lead into the sixth but Longoria launched a low breaking ball into the seats in left-center. Carroll then turned on an inside fastball, giving Arizona a 4-3 lead with a drive over Chase Field's pool in right-center.
Longoria reached four times, adding a double, single and a walk. The Diamondbacks opened a 6-3 lead in the eighth on two-out RBI hits from Nick Ahmed and rookie catcher Gabriel Moreno.
“Today was the type of game I've been waiting for,” D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said. “These guys have been working their tails off offensively and you could see we had a great approach, all-field approach, with timely hitting. It was a lot of fun.”
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Drey Jameson (2-0), Miguel Castro and Andrew Chafin combined to pitch 4 1/3 innings of hitless relief.
James Outman and Chris Taylor homered for the Dodgers. Kershaw (1-1) gave up four runs and seven hits over six innings.
“A little bit of an off night,” Kershaw said. “I did a lot of things I shouldn't have, especially when your team grinds and gives you the lead like that. It's disappointing to give up the lead late in the game. Just a lot of things to work on for the next one.”
The Dodgers had won three in a row.
Diamondbacks lefty Madison Bumgarner had another shaky evening, giving up three runs and five hits over 4 2/3 innings. He struck out five and walked six. Bumgarner also got hit hard in his season-opening start against the Dodgers in L.A. last week and went back to Phoenix early to check for a potential injury.
The good news is there was no injury. The bad news is he's still struggling to get outs.
“Not my best,” Bumgarner said. “But we won ... that's all that matters. If that's what it takes to win, sign me up.”
Bumgarner gave up a single and two walks to load the bases with two outs in the fifth but Jameson retired Chris Taylor on a groundout.
400 CLUB
Kershaw made his 400th career start. He's the 139th pitcher in big league history to hit that mark, according to baseball-reference.com.
“That's a big number, given the rare company he's in,” manager Dave Roberts said. “I think with greatness — longevity — that's something he prides himself on. Not only being good in a small snippet of time, but for 400 starts, that's pretty remarkable.”
Kansas City's Zack Greinke is the active leader with 516 starts, which ranks 44th.
Kershaw — a three-time NL Cy Young Award winner — has a 198-87 career record and a 2.48 ERA.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Dodgers: Roberts said RHP Tony Gonsolin (ankle) threw a 32-pitch bullpen. Roberts added that he watched and that “today was pretty encouraging." He said the team was still determining the next step in his rehab.
Diamondbacks: Placed RHP Cole Sulser (strained right shoulder) on the injured list. RHP Luis Frias was called up from Triple-A.
UP NEXT
The Dodgers send RHP Noah Syndergaard (0-0, 1.50 ERA) to the mound on Saturday night. He'll go against D-backs RHP Zach Davies (0-0, 1.80 ERA).
