Los Angeles leads the series 2-0 after holding off Arizona 8-5.
D-Backs in danger of getting swept by Dodgers
LOS ANGELES – The Diamondbacks have a problem. Their relationship with the Dodgers has changed considerably.
They are no longer the broom. They are in danger of being whisked away inside the dustpan. And somewhere along the way, their strength has become a weakness.
They still fight. They still believe. But after an 8-5 loss in Game 2 of the National League Division Series, there aren’t many solutions in sight. Not when their starting pitching has fallen apart.
Not when Robbie Ray can’t beat the Dodgers, a team he owned during the regular season.
Maybe some of the blame should fall on Zack Greinke, the team’s high-priced ace. Greinke’s quick exit in the wildcard game triggered a series of unfortunate events. It prompted the team to use Ray in an unscheduled relief appearance, and not as the Game 1 starter.
As a result, the Dodgers were able to feast on the overmatched Taijuan Walker. And it helped them beat their nemesis, who was clearly off his game.
Ray muscled his way through numerous jams but was all over the place. He walked batters. He yielded a run on a wild pitch, bouncing a throw well in front of home plate. He completed his Wild Thing outing by hitting a batter in the fourth inning and was removed from the game shortly thereafter.
This has been a terrible twist of fortune. For most of the season, the Diamondbacks were an anomaly in Major League Baseball. At a time when relief pitching and home runs are the deciding factors, turning playoff games into marathon viewing experiences, Arizona has been reliant on a very deep, very talented rotation.
But the wheels are falling off. Over the last 16 games, Diamondbacks starters have averaged just over four innings per start. That statistic is obviously skewed by pitchers who tapered down at the end of the season, but only one starter has given the team more than five innings over that stretch.
After the blunder of starting Walker in Game 1 of the NLDS, you can make a case that Torey Lovullo was out-managed again on Saturday. He brought in Jimmie Sherfy for the second consecutive game, dropping him into a pressurepacked situation, even though the rookie dealt with tightness in his triceps at the end of the season. It’s a nice story. Sherfy played with Lovullo’s son on a high school team in California, and Lovullo was touched when he handed Sherfy the ball on Friday night. But he was the wrong guy at the wrong time on Saturday, allowing three runs and three hits on 10 pitches.
But here’s the ugly truth: Even Archie Bradley is struggling to get outs. Who else can Lovullo trust at the moment?
It wasn’t just the manager. The Diamondbacks made a host of mental errors and a key physical error. They threw the ball to the wrong base. They let a runner steal third without a throw. And over the last 18 innings, they have allowed the Dodgers to regain their swagger.
It was so bad that Yasiel Puig flipped his bat on a bloop single that couldn’t score a runner from second base. He flipped his bat again after an RBI single in the fifth inning. And when he was effectively picked off moments later, the crowd actually gave him a standing ovation for the emotion he provided.
Truth is, the Dodgers needed Puig’s energy in the early going.
In typical LA fashion, the crowd arrived late, even though Game 2 was staged on a Saturday night. There was a completely different vibe at Chavez Ravine, as if the Dodgers had won the NLDS with a single victory the previous night. The Diamondbacks provided an early wakeup call.
In the first inning, Paul Goldschmidt hit a ball hit so hard that the left fielder never even moved. It was the second time a Goldschmidt home run had staked his team to a first-inning lead in the playoffs. And it was déjà vu for Dodgers starter Rich Hill.
Ten years and one day earlier, Hill made his first postseason start against the Diamondbacks. He was pitching Game 3 for the Cubs at Wrigley Field. He gave up two first-inning runs that day, too, including a leadoff home run to Chris Young.
Goldschmidt’s blast was further proof that Major League Baseball has become a fireworks show, where we’ve witnessed 11 first-inning home runs in 10 postseason games. The hitters are in control and so cocky that Ketel Marte was even talking trash about Clayton Kershaw.
“They say the ball doesn’t carry well in (Dodger Stadium),”” he told USA Today. “I hope we face him in Arizona so we don’t hit four off of him, but eight.”
The Diamondbacks won’t get that chance. They will only face Kershaw again if these teams return to Dodger Stadium for a Game 5. And Marte was stuck eating crow late in Saturday’s game, when he booted a grounder with the bases loaded.
It was that ugly. And the Diamondbacks are running out of time and season to make it better.