{"id":37909,"date":"2020-09-04T18:10:48","date_gmt":"2020-09-04T22:10:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=37909"},"modified":"2020-09-04T18:10:48","modified_gmt":"2020-09-04T22:10:48","slug":"dodgers-diamondbacks-20200903","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2020\/09\/04\/dodgers-diamondbacks-20200903\/","title":{"rendered":"Clayton Kershaw Whiffs His 2,500th as Dodgers Beat Diamondbacks"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dodgers 5, Diamondbacks 1<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Ace Los Angeles Dodgers lefty Clayton Kershaw<\/a><\/strong> joined the 2,500 Strikeout Club, the 39th pitcher in major league history<\/a> to ever do so. He also took a no-hitter into the sixth, paving the way for the Los Angeles Dodgers<\/a> to defeat the Arizona Diamondbacks<\/a>, 5-1, Thursday night in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

The first began with a 1-2-3 inning by Kershaw, with two of the three hitters striking out. In the bottom of the inning, weirdness resulted in two unearned runs. Right fielder Mookie Betts<\/a><\/strong>, who has terrorized the Diamondbacks all season, led off against Luke Weaver<\/a><\/strong> with a liner directly to left fielder David Peralta<\/a><\/strong> for the first out. Shortstop Corey Seager<\/a><\/strong> followed with a single to center, bringing up third baseman Max Muncy<\/a><\/strong>, who smashed a hot grounder to first. Christian Walker<\/a><\/strong> dove but couldn\u2019t come up with it, deflecting it into right for a base hit.<\/p>\n

With runners now on first and second, first baseman Cody Bellinger<\/a><\/strong> dug in. He hit a grounder near the bag at first. Walker scooped it up, stepped on the bag for the second out, then fired it to second. Instead of an inning-ending reverse double play, the ball hit second base and looped into the air. Shortstop Nick Ahmed<\/a><\/strong> couldn\u2019t find it, giving Seager enough time to round third and score. Center fielder Chris Taylor<\/a><\/strong>, up next, roped a single to left, plating Muncy for the second run.<\/p>\n

Settling into a Pitchers\u2019 Duel<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Weaver did not allow another Dodger to reach base until Seager singled with one out in the bottom of the sixth, retiring 14 in a row in the process. \u201cI got into Attack Mode,\u201d Weaver said, adding later, \u201cI was able to capitalize on those two-strike counts, make some better pitches, get some weaker contact, and get into a good rhythm.\u201d While going up against a future Hall of Famer in Kershaw did \u201cnot necessarily\u201d give him extra motivation, it was still \u201cpretty cool. This was the first time I\u2019ve ever (faced) him, (although) I\u2019ve seen him pitch a couple of times. I did have a moment early in the game, though, where I was ready to go to battle, have a duel out there, and match it. He obviously had a great game and has been doing it for a long time\u2026. It was a fun little fight.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Kershaw made it through the first four innings while allowing only one baserunner \u2013 a leadoff walk to Peralta in the second. In the fifth, he walked Ahmed and hit third baseman Andy Young<\/a><\/strong>, but those two stayed on base as no one else in the frame managed to reach base. Kershaw\u2019s no-hit bid ended in the sixth when Walker beat out an infield single to the shortstop side of second. Second baseman Enrique “Kike” Hernandez<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 playing in the overshift \u2013 made a sliding stop, but his throw to first was too high to retire the hustling Walker.<\/p>\n

Dodgers, Diamondbacks Bullpens Get the Call<\/strong><\/h3>\n

After Seager singled with one out in the sixth, Travis Bergen<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 the left-handed reliever who came to the Diamondbacks in Monday\u2019s Robbie Ray<\/a><\/strong> trade \u2013 walked Muncy to put runners on first and second for Bellinger. A fly to center brought Taylor to the plate, and he grounded into a 6-4 force play to end the inning and give Bergen a scoreless debut with his new team.<\/p>\n

The Diamondbacks narrowed the gap when Ahmed scored on a fielder\u2019s choice grounder by Andy Young in the top of the seventh, but the Dodgers quickly got that one back. Bergen returned to the mound to face lefty Joc Pederson<\/a><\/strong> to open the bottom of the seventh, but Dodgers manager Dave Roberts<\/a><\/strong> sent righty A.J. Pollock to pinch-hit. Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo<\/a><\/strong> countered by bringing in righty Keury Mella<\/a><\/strong>, a recent call-up. His first pitch ended up on the hitter\u2019s background in dead center, Pollock\u2019s seventh dinger of the season. Two batters later, Hernandez singled. He later advanced to second on a wild pitch to the next hitter, Barnes. After Barnes fanned, Betts made the score 4-1 with an RBI single that ended Mella\u2019s night. Joel Mantiply took over, and, despite allowing a single to the first hitter he faced, got out of the inning without any further damage.<\/p>\n

Dodgers Put the Game Away<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Despite getting the leadoff man to third, the Diamondbacks could not score in the top of the eighth. In the bottom of the inning, the Dodgers tacked another run onto their lead. Taylor led off with a double and came around to score on singles by Beaty and Hernandez. Jake McGee<\/a><\/strong> pitched a nearly flawless ninth, striking out three, with the only baserunner coming from a one-out double by Young.<\/p>\n

The loss was the fifth in a row and 13th out of 14 for the struggling Diamondbacks (14-23). It was the fifth straight victory and 18th in 21 games for the Dodgers (29-10), who now hold a six-game lead over the second-place San Diego Padres<\/a> in the National League West.<\/p>\n

Main Photo
\nEmbed from Getty Images<\/a>