Diamondbacks 1, Dodgers 3: Swept, but not shutout

Record: 23-26. Pace: 76-86. Change on 2021: +5.

Scheduled guest recapper TyCornCobb has not been returning my emails - quite understandably, given how the series has gone. So I'm going to presume there will be no account or description of this afternoon's contest, and this will stand in its place. Should any such show up, I'll be pleasantly surprised and will happily move this to one side. There likely isn't much which needs to be said though, and it hardly deserves the effort of a full recap. The Arizona Diamondbacks were beaten again by the Los Angeles Dodgers this afternoon, completing another four-game sweep at their hands. Arizona has lost eight straight against Los Angeles. The D-backs are 2-9 versus them this year, and 21-17 versus everybody else.

Zach Davies wasn't too bad this afternoon, especially considering his previous one. He seemed generally to have much better command of his pitches. However, a solo home-run leading off the second (on the 12th pitch of Will Smith's at-bat) gave the Dodgers a lead they would never relinquish. They then added two more in the third, after the first pair reached. Davies ended up going 5.1 innings, allowing three earned runs on four hits and two walks with five strikeouts. The Arizona bullpen was solid, with 3.1 hitless innings. Indeed, they faced 10 batters and retired all 11, thanks to Caleb Smith picking off a runner he had inherited from Davies in the sixth.

No, the problem here was much more on the offense, even though the Diamondbacks outhit the Dodgers by an 8-4 margin. The home team went 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position, and were 3-for-30 overall in the series. Arizona got their leadoff man on base in the third, fifth and eighth innings, but only in the fifth did he even get past first. It looked like they were on the way to being shutout, until Alek Thomas was hit by a pitch with one down in the ninth. One out later, David Peralta tripled to the right-center gap, getting the Diamondbacks on the board and bringing the tying run to the plate. But Cooper Hummel struck out, and the domination of the Dodgers over the D-backs continues.

Jose Herrera had a pair of hits, and Christian Walker reached base twice, on a hit and a walk. Torey Lovullo also had a good day with challenges, getting two more wrong decisions overturned on review. Nothing of note in the Gameday Thread, though I appreciate everyone who showed up, apparently having nothing better to do. The good news is, we won't see the Dodgers again until September. Next up though, are the World Series champion Atlanta Braves. Zac Gallen starts for Arizona, with the first pitch at 5:10 pm.