D-Backs 0, Dodgers 7: Dominant Shutout Punctuates a Deflating Series and Sweep

After two demoralizing losses in Los Angeles, the D-Backs looked for some redemption in a sweep-defying win. The kind of win that allows you to hold your head high and daydream about the things that went wrong - and implicitly could have gone better - in one of the other games in the series. Instead, the Dodgers showed why they’re in a different class than the D-Backs right now, even as they concluded the closest season series between them by win percentage since 2019 (.385 this year compared to an equally unhappy .421 then). There’s always the optimistic thought that some of the younger D-Backs in Brandon Pfaadt, Zac Gallen, and Corbin Carroll are gaining valuable experience in late-season, meaningful games. But even the sunniest of takeaways from this series are cold comfort after a series in which the D-Backs were outscored 23-5 across the three-game set and only managed to hold a lead for a combined two innings across the weekday series.

Tonight’s contest started out relatively even as Pfaadt and opposing starter Ryan Pepiot navigated around early traffic to post respective scoreless innings in the first and second. The Dodgers however broke through against the Arizona rookie in their second time down the lineup card as incredible duo Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman combined for the first two runs with a single and a 109 mph rocket off the bat that ended its journey in the right field bleachers and gave the Dodgers a 2-0 lead. An iffy error call by Pfaadt himself allowed our old friend David Peralta to get on base and who was promptly driven in by a Jason Heyward shot that just snuck over the centerfield fence for a 4-0 deficit. The Dodger offensive onslaught continued in the next inning as an Austin Barnes single preceded a Freeman double to set the table for Max Muncy. Muncy laced a sweeper down the right field line into the short corner that plated two more to balloon the deficit to 6-0.

To their credit, the D-Backs bats were able to get traffic on the bases throughout the game, but never put together a sustained rally or the proverbial “big hit” as they finished a paltry 0-for-7 with RISP for the game. The only offensive standouts came from unlikely candidate Buddy Kennedy and Lourdes Gurriel Jr whose combined four hits represented two-thirds of the team’s hits for the game. There were entirely too many 0-fers up and down the lineup for a team that is still definitively in the hunt for an NL wild card spot. The Dodgers would add their final run courtesy of a Chris Taylor single ahead of a steal of second and a subsequent RBI-single from Muncy for the 7-0 final score.

While the divisional crown is well out of reach (and thus these games mean slightly less), this forgettable series bookends an inconsistent month that saw the team simultaneously lose the first nine games of the month and also pull of a six-game win streak. We can certainly chalk it up to youth and inexperience, but in a series that represented a possible measuring stick to one of the top teams in the National League (if not the majors), the D-Backs looked out-matched for much of the series. Even still, the D-Backs find themselves just a half game outside of the wild card standings entering the final full month of the regular season. It should be a fun, exciting month of baseball as these youngsters continue to chase the team’s first playoff berth since 2017.