Diamondbacks 8, Dodgers 5: Pollock starts it, Descalso finishes it

With Clayton Kershaw making his way to the disabled list, the Dodgers swapped him out with Rich Hill to make the start tonight. There was some discussion in the GDT as to whether or not they were rushing him, and based off the results, one definitely has to wonder. AJ Pollock got to him early, and in a big way. Hill gave up a walk to Paul Goldschmidt, and Pollock smacked a 2-0 fastball for a home run, getting the Dbacks a quick 2-0 lead.

Godley took the mound in the bottom of the inning and wasn’t particularly sharp either. He walked Chris Taylor to start, and a wild pitched let Taylor go to second. Alex Verdugo struck out. Yasmani Grandal grounded out, but Taylor took third on the play. A walk to Cody Bellinger brought the red hot... /checks notes Matt Kemp? What year is it?! Anyway, Kemp hit an RBI single to bring home Taylor. Godley got a ground out from Pederson to end it without anymore damage. 2-1 Dbacks

A clean second inning quickly brought us to the third. Chris Owings put another run on the board right away with a lead off solo home run. However, Yasmani Grandal answered with a solo shot of his own in the bottom of the inning. 3-2 Dbacks

Another home run in the fourth inning put a bit more daylight between the Dbacks and the home team. Nick Ahmed singled to lead off, and John Ryan Murphy brought him home to make the score 5-2.

It got dicey in the fifth, though, and both teams are going to remember it tomorrow, I’m sure. Steven Sousa Jr. and Ketel Marte both walked with one out, setting things up. Lovullo called for the double steal and Souza went in hard and late at third base. He knocked down third basemen Max Muncy and the Dodgers took exception to it. Words were exchanged, a couple Dodgers bench players thought about going over the railing, and Souza seemed to bring up a dirty slide earlier this week from, shockingly enough, Chase Utley, either as justification or a reminder that the Dodgers have no room to talk. The Dodgers were none too happy, and let’s just say I’d be perfectly okay if every Dback wore hand guards and those more protective batting helmets tomorrow.

Godley let them get a little closer in the bottom of the inning. A one out walk to Tim Locastro on four pitches, and a Verdugo single with two outs set the scene. Grandal got one in with a single and then Bellinger brought in another with a double. 5-4 Dbacks

Fast forward to the bottom of the ninth. Brad Boxberger is two outs away from his 12th straight save to start the season. Kiki Hernandez at the plate. First pitch, home run, center field. Tie game.

Chafin came on to pitch the tenth and didn’t record an out. A lead off walk and a single to follow that up was all the damage he was allowed. Lovullo pulled him for Hirano, and Hirano put on a clinic. He got Kemp to fly out, threw two pitches, trying to tempt Pederson into a GIDP, but then intentionally walked him, loading the bases for the pinch hitter Kyle Farmer and Chase Utley. What followed was some of the best game planning possible from John Ryan Murphy and some of the best execution from Yoshi Hirano. The result was two strike outs, ending the inning and the threat.

Same basic thing in the 11th. Silvino Bracho came on and couldn’t find the strike zone with a map, a Sherpa, and divine intervention. Walked Kiki Hernandez on five pitches and then hit Chris Taylor with a pitch. Verdugo struck out and Kenta Maeda pinch hit and moved the runners to second and third. Lovullo pulled him for TJ McFarland, who got a fly out to end the inning.

We move to the 12th. David Peralta popped out, but Avila singled on the first pitch he saw and Goldschmidt drew a walk, bringing NL Player of the Month of April and Player of the Week, AJ Pollock to the plate, who... promptly flew out. That brought the Real MVP to the plate. Daniel Descalso homered to right field, giving the Dbacks a three run lead. McFarland closed it out, and the Dbacks get the win.

★★★: Daniel Descalso, game-winning, three-run home run

★★: John Ryan Murphy and Yoshi Hirano, the bottom of the tenth

★: Dan Haren, probably actually responsible for the tenth inning but we’ll never know

Dodger crushers: Daniel Descalso 41.1%, Yoshi Hirano 31.1%

Crushed by the Dodgers: Brad Boxberger -30.9%

A huge GDT tonight with 1,387 comments from 52 posters. Michael McD lead the way with almost 200, while newcomer ShirtOffYourBack and smartplays also broke triple digits. All presenter were:

4 Corners Fan, AZDovs11, Andrew Chrun, AzCutter, BigSmarty, BobDolio, DBacksEurope, DORRITO, DeadManG, DesertRock, Diamondbacker, Diamondhacks, GuruB, Imstillhungry95, JTyson, Jackwriter, Jim McLennan, Keegan Thompson, Makakilo, Michael McDermott, MikeDavisAZ, MikeMono, MrMrrbi, PR151, PaulGoldsmith, Renin, SenSurround, ShirtOffYourBack, SonomaComa1999, Sprankton, The so-called Beautiful, TheGoldenSombrero, TucsonTim, Turambar, Wildcats4Life13, Xipooo, asteroid, coldblueAZ, gamepass, hotclaws, kilnborn, megnetic, nolanriley13, onedotfive, ponus, rekameohs, samath, shoewizard, since_98, smartplays, suroeste, yutzamin

CotN? That’s easy. So shoewizard, what’s your opinion of the Dbacks chances after Chafin fails to get an out?

ball game

by shoewizard on May 8, 2018 | 10:35 PM reply (1) rec actions

Okay shoe, thanks for that :-)

Anyway, the win tonight guarantees that the streak of series without a loss continues, as the worst that can happen now is a split. Patrick Corbin takes the mound tomorrow to try and finish the sweep. See you there!