*Photo from AS USA*
Arizona leads series 2-0
The snakes are taking the baseball world by storm. Lourdes Gurriel Jr homered, Zac Gallen had a strong start, and the Arizona Diamondbacks defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers with a 4-2 victory on Monday night in Los Angeles.
Few people picked the D-Backs to advance past the Milwaukee Brewers in the wild card round. They swept the series. Fewer people picked them to take down their archrivals in the Dodgers. They're one win from sending them home too. The D-Backs are 4-0 this postseason and don't want to stop.
D-Backs closer Paul Sewald said after the game that "Why would we play with anything to lose? We were the sixth seed. We weren’t supposed to win in Milwaukee. No one is going to pick us to beat the Dodgers when we haven’t played well against them. We’re going out there with a lot of confidence."
Christian Walker got the scoring started early once again for the D-Backs. He was robbed of a grand slam by James Outman, but it was at the warning track so Corbin Carroll could score to make it 1-0. Ketel Marte then crossed the plate on a groundout from Gabriel Moreno to make it 2-0. Gurriel Jr made it 3-0 with an RBI single that scored Tommy Pham.
It would stay that way until the 4th inning. That was when JD Martinez struck for the Dodgers, hitting a solo home run to right field, cutting the deficit to 3-1. In the 6th, Gurriel Jr answered back for the D-Backs, hitting a solo shot to left field to make it 4-1. In the bottom of the 6th, Kike Hernandez hit an RBI single to make it 4-2. The D-Backs slammed the door after that.
Carroll said of the approach at the plate "We've just done a good job of not getting outside of ourselves and trying to make something happen. Just take what they give us. Especially in that Milwaukee series, like realizing the quality of our at-bats would dictate who we saw the next night and stuff like that. There was just a good buy-in from everyone."
Gallen got the start and pitched 5 1/3 innings for the D-Backs, allowing two runs on 5 hits and two walks. Andrew Saalfrank got one out before Ryan Thompson pitched the next 1 1/3 innings. Kevin Ginkel and Sewald closed out the game, with Sewald getting his 3rd save of the playoffs.
Bobby Miller lasted just 1 2/3 innings for the Dodgers, allowing 3 runs. Brusdar Graterol pitched two scoreless innings before Ryan Brasier allowed a run in 2 1/3 innings pitched. Joe Kelly pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings while Evan Phillips worked 1 1/3 innings.
Dodgers outfielder Mookie Betts said "We had a couple opportunities and we just didn’t cash it in. For me and Freddie, that’s kind of our role and we’re not doing it. I take ownership in that. We just have to figure out a way, man. There are no excuses. We just have to find a way to execute, man. We have to find a way to execute. There’s nothing else really to be said."
The series shifts to Arizona for at least a game 3, set to take place on Wednesday. Brandon Pfaadt starts for the D-Backs as they go for the series sweep and a spot in the NLCS. The Dodgers need a win to keep their season alive as Lance Lynn takes the mound.
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