Diamondbacks 4, Dodgers 3: Split Secured

Matt Koch took on Clayton Kershaw tonight at Chase Field, for what appeared to be a matchup more than a little lopsided in favor of the Dodgers. As you can see from the score above, there is a reason they don’t play the games on paper, though at times it did look like it would end in favor of the Dodgers.

Matt Koch gave up a couple of base runners in both of the first two innings. In the first, the Dodgers got on the base paths right out of the gate. Chris Taylor hit the third pitch of the ball game to left field to start the game. Koch then hit Joc Pederson with a pitch to put him on with no outs. A ball hit right back at Koch off the bat of Yasmany Grandal triggered a 1-6-3 double play, but moved Taylor to third. Nothing came of it, as Bellinger flew out to Daniel Descalso in left to end the inning.

The top of the second was almost the exact opposite. Quick outs from Matt Kemp and Chase Utley got Koch most of the way through the inning. After Alex Verdugo hit a ground rule double, he intentionally walked Max Muncy to bring up Kershaw, who promptly struck out, failing to help his own cause and end the inning.

In the third inning, A.J. Pollock continued his hot streak from the past few days, dropping a 3-1 fastball from Kershaw into the left field stands, his fourth home run in two games. A ground out from Owings, a line out from Marte, and a K from Avila ended the inning without any more runs. 1-0 Dbacks

The momentum quickly switched back to the visitor dugout in the next inning. Taylor again singled, but this time Pederson grounded into a double play, erasing the baserunner. It looked like Koch would be able to get out of the inning, but he walked Grandal to keep the inning going, bringing Cody Bellinger to the plate. This time it was Bellinger’s turn to deposit a 3-1 fastball into the bleachers. 2-1 Dodgers

Los Angeles didn’t waste much time in adding another run to the score. Utley lead off the top of the fourth with a line drive down the left field line. I go back and forth between being impressed that Descalso, a natural infielder, even got close to the ball and annoyance at the fact he let it clank off his glove. Utley made it to second before Descalso was able to recover, and the play was ruled an error. Verdugo moved him to third on a ground out to short, and Max Muncy brought him home on a ground out of his own. 3-1 Dodgers

Koch pitched a scoreless fifth inning, leaving the game after being hit for in the bottom of the fifth. The man to hit for him? Christian Walker. The result? One of the longest home runs I’ve ever seen in person. 3-2 Dbacks

Fast forward a bit to the seventh inning. Kershaw was hit for in the top of the seventh and Adam Libertore replaced him as the pitcher. Now, coming in to tonight, Libertore hadn’t allowed a run in five innings pitched. He fixed that tonight. Deven Marrero singled as did John Ryan Murphy, who was now the catcher after a double switch. That brought Descalso to the plate. Matt Kemp was playing more towards center than right, and Descalso took advantage, lacing a ball down the line for a triple. Both runners scored and the Dbacks had their first and last lead of the game. 4-3 Dbacks

That represented the ball game. Between Koch, Chafin, Bracho, Bradley, and Boxberger combined to hold the Dodgers hitless over the last six innings, giving the offense the chance to take advantage of a shaky Dodgers bullpen.

★★★ Daniel Descalso, 27.5% WPA

★★ Brad Boxberger, 17.8% WPA

★ Archie Bradley/Christian Walker, 12.9/12.0% WPA

689 comments in the GDT, split between 35 of us. All present were:

Andrew Chrun, BenSharp, BobDolio, CumulusChoir, DORRITO, DeadManG, Desert_Devil, Diamondbacker, Diamondhacks, Fangdango, GuruB, Imstillhungry95, Jackwriter, James Attwood, Jim McLennan, Makakilo, Michael McDermott, MikeDavisAZ, MikeMono, MrMrrbi, SongBird, SonomaComa1999, Sprankton, The so-called Beautiful, Ubersnake, asteroid, gamepass, hotclaws, kilnborn, megnetic, onedotfive, ponus, shoewizard, smartplays, suroeste

It wasn’t the most rec’d comment tonight, but for summing up my thoughts on the situation, I’ll give it to DORRITO

Make. Them. Suffer.

Lost the Segura trade. Mainly because there is no more Segura walk up music.

by DORRITO on May 1, 2018 | 6:34 PM reply unrec (6)

With the split already secured, the Dbacks have two chances to get the series win and keep the streak alive. That first chance is tomorrow at 6:40, with Zack Godley taking the mound for the Dbacks. You should probably be there if you can. Should be a lot of fun...