In a sudden offensive funk, the Los Angeles Dodgers will look to break from their doldrums in the finale of a three-game home series against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday afternoon.
The Dodgers failed to score in a loss to the Diamondbacks on Friday, 3-0, and fell 6-1 — getting six hits — on Saturday.
Prone to stagnant stretches despite Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman at the top of the order, the Los Angeles offense has just nine hits in two games against Arizona.
“I know last Sunday we talked about urgency, and we saw it for a handful of games,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said after Saturday’s defeat. “I just think the last couple of nights, that fighting to the end like it’s the last game, we’re not seeing that. We’re just not.”
“… There are certain guys showing that, and it’s great. But I think some guys also have to ramp it up, too.”
Freeman was thrown out at third in a baserunning gaffe Saturday, while Enrique Hernandez was thrown out at home on a close play while not sliding. Betts, who was the on-deck hitter and failed to get in Hernandez’s line of vision to signal a slide, brought home the only run in two games on a bloop single.
Dodgers pitching has been steady of late with Blake Snell solid in his return from the paternity list Friday and Tyler Glasnow taking a no-hitter into the sixth inning Saturday. Right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto (11-8, 2.90 ERA) is scheduled to take the mound Sunday.
In a start last Sunday against the San Diego Padres, Yamamoto delivered a much-needed 8-2 win by allowing two runs over six innings with six strikeouts. He is 2-1 lifetime against the Diamondbacks, with a 2.59 ERA in four starts.
Arizona is flush with energy while on an 8-3 run since Aug. 18 following several high-profile trades that sent out proven players for prospects. And yet Arizona continues to be relentless on offense, while pitching and defense have led to back-to-back wins over the Dodgers.
“You know something is going to happen within our game offensively where we’re going to strike and put up some runs,” Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said Saturday. “We’ve been putting up close to five runs all year long. But this team is resilient. They play tough and they play hard.”
The Diamondbacks scored the first run Saturday on a Corbin Carroll home run in the seventh inning, then put the game away in the ninth on a three-run shot from Ildemaro Vargas.
Arizona will try for the sweep at Los Angeles by sending right-hander Brandon Pfaadt (12-8, 5.24 ERA) to the mound. Zac Gallen and Eduardo Rodriguez also entered starts against the Dodgers this week with an ERA over 5.00, and neither allowed a run over six innings.
Pfaadt is coming off a rough outing against the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday, when he allowed six runs on eight hits over 2 2/3 innings in his team’s 9-8 loss. He won a pair of starts in May against the Dodgers when he gave up a combined three runs over 12 1/3 innings.
In six career starts against Los Angeles, Pfaadt is 4-2 with a 4.68 ERA.
–Field Level Media
