Arizona Diamondbacks' Lourdes Gurriel Jr. celebrates with teammates in the dugout after his solo home run during the sixth inning in Game 2 of a baseball NL Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Monday, Oct. 9, 2023, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)Ashley Landis/The Associated Press
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and the surprising Arizona Diamondbacks made quick work of another Dodgers starter, beating Los Angeles 4-2 on Monday night behind Zac Gallen for a 2-0 lead in their NL Division Series.
The young Diamondbacks, who earned the final National League wild card despite losing their last four regular-season games, improved to 4-0 in these playoffs – all on the road against division winners.
“These guys are very hungry and they feel like they have a lot to prove,” Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said.
They'll try for a stunning sweep of the 100-win Dodgers when the best-of-five series shifts to Phoenix for Game 3 on Wednesday.
“It’s two games, but our backs are against the wall,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “We’ve got the make some type of adjustments and we have no more margin.”
Gallen allowed two runs over 5 1/3 innings for his second win of the post-season. Gurriel laced an RBI single to cap a three-run first, and the Diamondbacks chased rookie starter Bobby Miller in the second.
The early outburst came two nights after Los Angeles ace Clayton Kershaw was tagged for six runs while getting only one out during Arizona’s 11-2 rout in Game 1.
Gurriel added a solo homer in the sixth to make it 4-1. Paul Sewald pitched a perfect ninth for his third save of the post-season, aided by a nice catch from Gurriel in left field.
Gallen retired nine in a row during one stretch in his second career post-season start. The 17-game winner gave up five hits, struck out four and walked two.
Arizona’s hitters weren’t intimidated by Miller’s 100 mph heat in his playoff debut. They loaded the bases with nobody out and got a sacrifice fly from Christian Walker and an RBI groundout from Gabriel Moreno before Gurriel’s two-out single made it 3-0.
Kershaw and Miller worked a combined two innings and gave up nine earned runs. Miller allowed four hits, struck out one and walked two in 1 2/3 innings before Roberts had seen enough and went to the bullpen.
Kershaw and Miller have a combined 40.50 ERA through the first two games – the worst starters’ ERA over that span in post-season history, according to ESPN Stats & Info.
The Dodgers have lost five straight post-season games dating to Game 2 of last year’s NLDS against San Diego.
Once again, the NL West champion Dodgers got little production from the top of their lineup. Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman, two of the team’s four 100-RBI players, were a combined 1 for 13 with three walks and a strikeout in the first two games of the series.
“All of us gotta get going,” Betts said. “We had a couple opportunities and we didn’t cash it in. For me and Freddie, that’s kind of our role. We’re not doing it, and I take ownership in that. Gotta figure out a way, man. No excuses.”
Los Angeles went 2 for 12 with runners in scoring position during the two games and stranded 13 overall.
Despite having the sellout crowd behind him from his first pitch, Miller issued a leadoff walk to Corbin Carroll. Ketel Marte reached on a bunt single and Tommy Pham singled to load the bases.
James Outman crashed into the center-field wall making a leaping catch of Walker’s sacrifice fly that scored Carroll for a 1-0 lead. Outman bobbled a catch in the first inning of Game 1 that contributed to Kershaw’s six-run inning before the three-time Cy Young Award winner was yanked.
After Pham stole second, Arizona added two more runs on Moreno’s RBI groundout to shortstop and Gurriel’s sharp single to centre.
Miller had two-strike counts on seven hitters and retired only three of them. He needed 32 pitches to get out of the first after visits by catcher Will Smith and pitching coach Mark Prior.
J.D. Martinez hit a solo homer in the fourth that pulled the Dodgers to 3-1. They had runners at the corners in the fifth, but with the crowd chanting “Freddie! Freddie!,” Freeman took a called third strike to end the inning.
“Couple pitches I missed that will make me not sleep,” Freeman said.
The Dodgers chased Gallen with back-to-back singles by Max Muncy and Martinez in the sixth. Andrew Saalfrank, a September call-up, walked pinch-hitter Chris Taylor to load the bases.
Pinch-hitter Kiké Hernández bounced the ball over the mound and second baseman Marte made a diving stop as Muncy scored to make it 4-2. Outman struck out and pinch-hitter Kolten Wong grounded out against sidearmer Ryan Thompson with the bases loaded to end the inning.
Betts reached on a fielding error by Thompson leading off the seventh, and Freeman came to the plate as the potential tying run. He fouled a ball off his right knee before hitting into a double-play, and Smith ended the inning by taking a called third strike.
CARROLL'S NUMBERS
Carroll singled in the seventh and finished 1 for 2 with a run and three walks. The rookie leadoff hitter is batting .500 with two homers and four RBIs in four post-season games.
DIGGING THE LONG BALL
Arizona has homered in 15 straight post-season games dating to Game 3 of the 2007 NL Championship Series against Colorado, tied for the second-longest streak in playoff history.
UP NEXT
Diamondbacks rookie RHP Brandon Pfaadt is scheduled to start Game 3. He started Game 1 of the Wild Card Series in Milwaukee.
The Dodgers will go with RHP Lance Lynn. He gave up a major league-leading 44 homers during the season, when he had a 7-2 record and a 4.36 ERA after joining the Dodgers before the Aug. 1 trade deadline.