Dbacks Bullpen Coughs Up Lead, Lose in Extras

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The Dbacks had a small comeback brewing, but their bullpen was unable to maintain a lead. The Dodgers were the resilient ones in this contest and were able to prevail in extra innings. Los Angeles defeated Arizona 6-4 in 10 innings. It’s another conversation about the bullpen for a later time.

It only took until the 2nd inning for the scoring to get started and it again came from the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers. An opposite field blast over the left field fence by Yasmani Grandal brought the Dodgers the first two runs of the game. It was Grandal’s second homer of the series and his 12th of the season. It didn’t take long for the Dbacks to retaliate this time around.

In the bottom half of the 2nd inning, after hits by Jake Lamb and Welington Castillo, Chris Owings hit a sacrifice fly to score Lamb and cut the Dodgers deficit to one. Castillo being thrown at second base while there were no outs in the inning hurt the Dbacks chances of a real dangerous threat.

Jun 30, 2015; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks shortstop Nick Ahmed (13) celebrates with Jake Lamb (19) in the fourth inning after hitting a two-run home run at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports

The next scoring favored Arizona and completely flipped the scripted on Los Angeles. What was once a 2-1 Dodgers lead turned into a 3-2 Dbacks advantage. All it took was a simple swing of the bat by one Nick Ahmed. It was Ahmed’s 2nd homerun of the series and his 6th of the season. As the season has progressed so has his bat.

Both starting pitchers didn’t last particularly long. Carlos Frias went 5 innings while allowing 7 hits and 3 runs. Rubby De La Rosa broke his short 3-game quality start streak. De La Rosa went 5.2 innings and surrendered 6 hits with 2 runs. He struck out 7 hitters. It was another Rubby performance. Let’s call it good Rubby.

Jun 30, 2015; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Rubby De La Rosa (12) throws in the first inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports

It was an opportunity to see the true pecking order of the Dbacks bullpen when they’re trying to protect a close lead. They were unsuccessful. Enrique Burgos was tasked with taking care of the 7th inning. It was a golden opportunity for Enri-K to prove himself. Unfortunately for him, a walk and a couple singles later, the Dodgers re-tied. The issues with bullpen are still alive and well.

A couple of scoreless innings by both teams in the 8th/9th innings and we were well on our way to some free baseball. Brad Ziegler took care of the 9th inning to lower his season ERA to 1.32. In June, Ziegler pitched 11 innings and only surrendered 1 run. Now, back to this one. (See what I did there?). Free baseball didn’t last as long as the Dbacks would’ve liked.

David Hernandez (0-1) came in to pitch the 10th and surrendered the lead the Dodgers. He gave up 3 runs and 3 hits in 2/3 of an inning. Joel Peralta (2-1) had pitched a scoreless 9th and was credited with the victory. Kenley Jansen came in to save a 6-3 lead. A Paul Goldschmidt RBI double scored a run but it wasn’t enough. Jansen saved his 12th game.

Players of the Game

Howie Kendrick (LAD) 4-for-5, R, 2B, HR, 2 RBI

Yasmani Grandal (LAD) 2-for-5, R, 2B, HR, 4 RBI

Paul Goldschmidt (ARI) 2-for-4, 2B, RBI

Nick Ahmed (ARI) 1-for-4, R, HR, 2 RBI

Arizona (37-40) and Los Angeles (44-35) will finish their series on Wednesday night.

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