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The Arizona Diamondbacks triumphed over the Los Angeles Dodgers 8-7 in 15 laborious innings that saw the game go past midnight PST. The Dodgers sent the Korean lefty Hyun Jin Ryu to the mound for the start while the home team Dbacks called on right-hander Taijuan Walker to open the game.
The Dodgers carried their hot hitting from the latter half of the Giants series right into this contest with the Dbacks. Joc Pederson started things off with a satisfying double to deep left center. Right after that, Cory Seager brought him home with a right-center single for the first mark of the ballgame. With Seager on first, Dodgers catcher Yasmani Grandal jacked a two-seam fastball into right field for his first homer of the 2018 season. After the excitement, Hyun Jin Ryu took his first start of the season with a 3-0 lead.
The Diamondbacks showed they weren't going to go quietly into the night. Arizona showed their competitive edge on back-to-back doubles by Paul Goldschmidt and A.J. Pollack. Goldy strutted across home for the first Dback score of the game. There's always some lingering beef beneath the surface between both these squads. They've gotten into some bean-ball battles over the years and faced each in the playoffs last fall, where the Dodgers swept them in three competitive games.
Hyun Jin Ryu had a solid first couple innings, but he started falling apart in the third. He gave up a triple to Ketel Marte, but it was slightly misplayed by center fielder Joc Pederson so partial blame is due. Ryu then proceeded to walk Paul Goldschmidt and A.J. Pollock which loaded the bases. Then he recklessly gave up a walk to third baseman Jake Lamb which gave the home team a free run, 2-3. Thankfully, Matt Kemp caught a fly ball in left field to end the inning. But in the fourth, Ryu gave up another walk to catcher Alex Avila and then another triple to Ketel Marte which tied the game 3-3. The Dodgers decided Ryu's night was over after that.
The game was getting stale in the several at-bats that followed. All of the sudden, Dodgers third baseman Logan Forsythe woke everyone up when he smashed a home run into the left-center bleachers off Diamondbacks reliever Yoshihisa Hirano. He broke the tie and gave the Dodgers back the lead 4-3. Then in the top of the 7th, Yasmani Grandal slapped a double along the right-field line, and Cody Bellinger singled him home on a clutch two-out line drive right back at the pitcher, 5-3 Dodgers.
The Diamondbacks challenged the Dodger relievers over the next couple innings a few two-out rallies but failed to bring anyone across home plate. The Dodgers tacked an insurance run on in the top of the 8th when Joc Pederson smacked a grounder right between the shortstop and third baseman for an RBI single, 6-3 Dodgers.
They brought in Kenley Janson to protect their 3-run lead in the bottom of the 9th inning. His speed was hovering in a more comfortable 93 mph range, compared to his diminished velocity at the beginning of the San Francisco series. He got two outs but then surrendered a walked and steal to Paul Goldschmidt. Next up he walked A.J. Pollack to put runners on first and second. Then in an unbelievable twist of fate, Diamondbacks center-fielder Chris Owings blasted a three-run homer to left field to tie it 6-6. In the previous inning, Logan Forsythe struck out with the bases loaded. That certainly came back to haunt the Dodgers, who just wanted to close this game out.
Neither team could score a run for the life of them in extra innings. Balls were being hit on both sides, but runners never made it home. It wasn't until the 15th freaking inning that the Dodgers decided it was time to score! Chase Utley broke the tie 7-6 on a well-hit single that grazed over the shortstops head. Wilmer Font came in after Kenley Janson blew the game in the 9th and threw 4 incredible innings on 70+ late-game pitches, and even laid down two successful sacrifice bunts in the batters box. Despite his incredible effort, the Arizona Diamondbacks ended up scoring two runs in the bottom of the 15th after Font ran out of juice. Nick Ahmed doubled for the tying score and Jeff Mathis hit the game-winning pinch-hit single. An incredibly tough loss for the Dodgers in a marathon of a game. Even though they lost, Wilmer Font looks incredibly promising and they could utilize him to bolster their middle relief.
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