Arizona Diamondbacks closing the gap on the Dodgers after dropping series to Padres
By Trisha Garcia
The Los Angeles Dodgers once held a 21-game lead over the Arizona Diamondbacks, but that lead is only nine games now
The Arizona Diamondbacks dropped two games against the San Diego Padres, but avoided the sweep with a win on Sunday.
With the 3-2 victory on Sunday and the Dodgers loss to the Colorado Rockies the same day, the Diamondbacks are now just nine games behind the skidding L.A. team.
It could have been a much closer divisional race, but the Diamondbacks dropped the first two games in the series against the Padres. Had they won, they would be seven games back.
Shoulda, coulda, woulda.
They still avoided being swept.
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Sunday’s win came at the hands of none other than J.D. Martinez and Paul Goldschmidt.
Martinez had two solo home runs, while Goldschmidt added one of his own – on his 30th birthday.
In 45 games with the Arizona Diamondbacks, Martinez has 21 home runs (37 total) and 45 RBI’s.
Goldschmidt now has 34 home runs this season.
Patrick Corbin took the loss on Friday, while Robbie Ray continued his dominance with the win on Sunday. Saturday’s loss, however, came at the hands of Fernando Rodney.
Heading into the ninth inning on Saturday, the Diamondbacks had a 7-2 lead.
In the hopes of resting Rodney, Andrew Chafin started the inning. He gave up a single and then a home run to Wil Myers.
Rodney replaced Chafin and gave up another four runs. The Padres took the lead and the Diamondbacks could not recover in the bottom of the ninth.
A few familiar woes returned to the Diamondbacks as Corbin struggled in the fourth and fifth innings of his start. Also, the team was 10-for-32 with RISP. While that’s still a .312 average, the combined 23 runners left on base by the team proved costly in the two dropped games.
Friday’s loss also cost the Diamondbacks their 13-game winning streak.
Sunday’s win came from Ray’s continued dominance, but Archie Bradley earned his first career save to get the team back in the win column.
They will look to continue that success as the Colorado Rockies come to town in a Wild Card showdown.
"The Arizona Diamondbacks have held their own against the Dodgers in 2017"
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