Arizona Diamondbacks claim 2-0 series lead in win over Los Angeles Dodgers
LOS ANGELES — The Diamondbacks are returning to Chase Field with a 2-0 lead in the NL Divisional Series. With just win over the next three games, they will return to the NL Championship series for the first time since 2007, putting themselves on the doorstep of the World Series.
Monday’s Game 2 win was not as dominant as their Game 1 effort but they still stifled a potent Dodgers’ offense in a 4-2 win.
They scored three runs in the first inning thanks to a walk, three singles and some intelligent strategy. From there, the offense was quiet, with a sixth inning home run from Lourdes Gurriel Jr. providing the only insurance.
It proved to be all the Diamondbacks needed. Zac Gallen worked 5 1/3 innings of two-run ball, with one of those runs being an inherited runner that Andrew Saalfrank allowed to come across. After Saalfrank got one out, Ryan Thompson, Kevin Ginkel and Paul Sewald combined for the final 3 1/3 innings to put the Diamondbacks on the precipice of their best season in 16 years.
—Theo Mackie
Diamondbacks three outs from taking 2-0 NLDS lead
LOS ANGELES — The Diamondbacks are three outs away from returning to Chase Fields with a 2-0 series lead over the Dodgers. They lead, 4-2, after eight innings Monday night.
They have not scored since Lourdes Gurriel Jr.’s seventh inning home run extended the lead, but the bullpen has maintained the two-run lead.
Ryan Thompson worked around his own error to retire the top of the Dodgers’ order in the seventh, getting a double play from Freddie Freeman. Kevin Ginkel completed a similar trick in the eighth, walking J.D. Martinez with one out but then getting a double play from Chris Taylor to end the frame.
—Theo Mackie
Diamondbacks clutching to narrow lead in late innings
LOS ANGELES — Torey Lovullo made a bold move in the bottom of the sixth inning, replacing Zac Gallen after just 84 pitches. The move did not necessarily work out, but the Diamondbacks still hold a 4-2 lead after six.
After getting a routine groundout from Will Smith, Max Muncy and J.D. Martinez both hit soft singles, each on seemingly quality pitches from Gallen. But with three left-handers due up in the order, Lovullo replaced Gallen with the left-handed Andrew Saalfrank.
The Dodgers brought in a pair of right-handed pinch hitters to eliminate Saalfrank’s left-on-left advantage. He walked the first, Chris Taylor, and allowed an infield single to the second, Kiké Hernández. But with the bases loaded and the Dodgers down two, Saalfrank did what he was summoned to do and struck out the only lefty he faced, James Outman. Ryan Thompson then replaced him and got a meek groundout from Kolten Wong to end the threat.
—Theo Mackie
Zac Gallen escapes jam to keep Diamondbacks in front
LOS ANGELES — Much of Zac Gallen’s outing has been easy work. The fifth inning was not. And yet the Diamondbacks still lead, 4-1, in the sixth with their ace leading the way.
With one out in the frame, James Outman walked and Miguel Rojas singled. That put runners on first and second for Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman, the Dodgers’ two explosive superstars.
Gallen went to his cutter, a pitch her often struggles to gain a feel for, to get Betts to bounce to shortstop on the first pitch. Freeman proved a more difficult at-bat, watching two curveballs snap below the zone to draw the count full. Gallen, though, went back to a third curveball, this time in the strike zone, to freeze Freeman looking and end the inning.
Then, in the top of the sixth, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. tacked on to the lead with a solo, two-out home run to make it 4-1.
—Theo Mackie
NLDS Game 3 at Chase Field officially sold out
The Diamondbacks announced on Monday that the team's first home game in these playoffs, Game 3 of this NLDS, is officially a sellout.
They said that a limited number of tickets remain for a possible Game 4 and are available at dbacks.com/postseason. Of course, tickets for both games are available via secondary markets.
There was some discussion whether Game 2 at Dodger Stadium was in fact a sellout, but the Dodgers announced before the series began that both of the first two games were sold out, with only 100 or so standing-room tickets available at the top of the upper deck.
—Mark Faller
J.D. Martinez gets Dodgers on the board
LOS ANGELES — J.D. Martinez slammed a 3-2 fastball out to right-center field in the fourth, giving the Dodgers their first run of the night off Diamondbacks right-hander Zac Gallen. The Diamondbacks lead, 3-1, after four innings.
Martinez got a 95.3 mph down-the-middle fastball — the same pitch he twice swung through in the first inning — and hit it out to right field, barely getting it over the wall and beyond a jumping Corbin Carroll.
Gallen has given up just two hits and a walk, throwing 56 pitches, over four innings.
—Nick Piecoro
Zac Gallen cruising as DBacks lead early
LOS ANGELES — Zac Gallen is through three scoreless innings in Game 2 of the National League Division Series on Monday night, and the Diamondbacks, who won Game 1 on Saturday, have a 3-0 lead after three innings at Dodger Stadium.
Gallen had to pitch around a little trouble in the first inning but retired the side in order in the second and third innings.
Freddie Freeman reached on an infield single in the first — Gallen was late covering the bag on a ground ball to first baseman Christian Walker — and Max Muncy worked a two-out walk, putting runners on first and second for J.D. Martinez.
Gallen made quick work of Martinez, blowing a pair of fastballs right by him — both pitches were down the middle — and putting him away on a curveball in the dirt.
Gallen has needed only 43 pitches.
—Nick Piecoro
Diamondbacks again take big early lead over Dodgers
LOS ANGELES — The cars were still rolling into Chavez Ravine, the fans still occupying their seats inside Dodger Stadium, when the Diamondbacks once again took a commanding first inning lead. They are up, 3-0, in Game 2 of the NLDS with a chance to take a 2-0 series lead back to Chase Field.
Corbin Carroll got the ball rolling with a leadoff single before Ketel Marte laid down a surprising bunt, catching the Dodgers’ defense off guard to reach base. Tommy Pham singled to left to load the bases before Christian Walker was robbed of a double by a leaping catch from James Outman at the center-field wall. Still, the flyout gave the Diamondbacks the lead.
Pham then stole second, preventing an inning-ending double play when Gabriel Moreno hit a groundout to shortstop, scoring Marte from third. Pham himself came around to score when Lourdes Gurriel Jr. hit a single to center.
It is the second time in as many games that the Diamondbacks have jumped on the Dodgers early. In Saturday’s Game 1, they led 6-0 after one inning and 9-0 after two.
—Theo Mackie
Diamondbacks could use Paul Sewald more aggressively in NLDS
LOS ANGELES — Since joining the Diamondbacks at the trade deadline, Paul Sewald has not pitched more than one inning. In total, he’s only thrown one multi-inning outing this year — a five-out save for the Mariners on July 1. He has also pitched almost exclusively in save situations or extra innings.
Both those roles could change in the playoffs, manager Torey Lovullo said Monday. So far, Sewald has appeared twice this postseason — both times against the Brewers, both times in the ninth inning to close out a save.
But in Game 1 of that Wild Card series, when Brandon Pfaadt started and went just 2 2/3 innings, Lovullo said Sewald was an option in the eighth inning before Andrew Saalfrank helped extinguish a fire and bridge the gap to the ninth.
“I’m on board with that,” Lovullo said. “He's on board with that. And we're all in. You ask yourself, in your mind, your body, your spirit, do something that it hasn't ever done before because there's no tomorrow.”
Sewald would also likely be used if the Diamondbacks enter the ninth inning leading by four runs — and potentially even if they lead by five.
Because of the three-batter minimum, leaving Sewald in the bullpen with a four-run lead means that he could potentially be asked to come in with no outs, the bases loaded and the tying run at the plate.
“That’s definitely not what you want your closer to walk into,” Lovullo said.
Even with a five-run lead, that scenario would put the tying run on deck.
“The LA Dodgers are a very potent team,” Lovullo said. “They can walk and slug, and out of nowhere a five-run lead becomes a two-run lead. I want to avoid that at all costs.”
—Theo Mackie
Diamondbacks playing with a chip on their shoulders
LOS ANGELES — Should Major League Baseball re-seed the playoff pairings after each round? That topic's been discussed this fall, with the National League's No. 6 team — the Diamondbacks — in the middle of the conversation, mostly on social media.
The logic was that teams like the Braves, with their 104 wins and No. 1 seed, deserved to face the worst teams remaining. Arizona, apparently, did not miss the debate.
“This team has a chip on its shoulder,” manager Torey Lovullo said ahead of Monday’s NLDS Game 2. “We take it personal when we watch some of the comments on television or read some of the things where everybody wanted to re-seed this thing so the Braves can pick on the lowly Diamondbacks.”
Echoed Monday's starting pitcher, Zac Gallen: “Other than the 26 guys, 28 guys in that clubhouse, I don't know anyone else thinks that we should be here, thinks that we deserve to be here,” Gallen said.
—Theo Mackie
Diamondbacks-Dodgers NLDS Game 2 pitching matchup
Diamondbacks RHP Zac Gallen (1-0, 3.00) vs. Dodgers RHP Bobby Miller (11-4, 3.76)*.
Gallen's start against the Brewers in the wild-card series was an unusual one. He allowed two runs in the first inning, throwing 32 pitches in the process. But from there, he recovered excellently, not allowing any more damage and making it through the sixth to pave the way for a Diamondbacks' series-clinching win. ... Gallen had an up-and-down regular season. For much of the year, he looked like the favorite to win the NL Cy Young before a slew of poor starts down the stretch. ... Gallen's last two starts of the regular season were both strong, building momentum before the playoffs. ... In two starts against the Dodgers this year, Gallen allowed 11 runs in 10 innings. ... Miller, the Dodgers' 2020 first-round draft pick, debuted in May and has been a revelation ever since, bolstering a struggling Dodgers' rotation. In his two starts against the Diamondbacks, Miller allowed four runs over 12 innings. ... Miller finished the regular season on a nice run, not allowing more than three runs in any of his final four starts. Over that span, he had a 2.78 ERA.
Coming up
Tuesday: Off.
Wednesday: Game 3: At Chase Field, 6:07 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Brandon Pfaadt (0-0, 10.13) vs. Dodgers TBA.
Thursday: Game 4 (if necessary): At Chase Field, 6:07 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Merrill Kelly (1-0, 0.00) vs. Dodgers LHP Clayton Kershaw (0-1, 162.00).
Friday: Game 5 (if necessary): At Los Angeles, 6:20 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Zac Gallen (1-0, 3.00) vs. Dodgers TBA.
Diamondbacks-Dodgers NLDS series schedule, results
Game 1, Oct. 7 — Arizona 11, Los Angeles 2 (Diamondbacks lead series, 1-0)
Game 2, Oct. 9 — Arizona at Los Angeles, 6:07 p.m.
Game 3, Oct. 11 — Los Angeles at Arizona, 6:07 p.m.
Game 4, Oct. 12 — Los Angeles at Arizona, 6:07 p.m.*
Game 5, Oct. 14 — Arizona at Los Angeles, 6:20 p.m.*
*-if necessary
All games are on TBS.
Pre-game reading
▪Diamondbacks have a major opportunity with Zac Gallen on mound
▪Diamondbacks playing with 'chip on shoulder'
▪How the Diamondbacks handed Clayton Kershaw the worst night of his career
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona Diamondbacks claim 2-0 series lead in win over Los Angeles Dodgers
