Escobar homers late, Arizona tops Dodgers in a wild one
PHOENIX (AP) — Eduardo Escobar homered for the third straight game and the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-5 on Saturday night in front of a crowd of 50,180, a single-game attendance record for Chase Field.
Escobar’s solo shot was his 10th home run in August and 32nd of the season. The homer came off Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen in the bottom of the eighth inning.
Christian Walker and Wilmer Flores hit back-to-back home runs off Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw (13-4).
Kershaw, who lost his second straight start, was charged with five runs on five hits, six strikeouts and two walks in five innings.
The Dodgers loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the ninth off Diamondbacks closer Archie Bradley. But pinch-hitter Matt Beatty grounded into a double play that scored a run, and Chris Taylor grounded out to end the game.
Bradley thumped his chest and screamed after earning his 10th save in his team’s season-high sixth straight win.
Justin Turner and Will Smith homered for the Dodgers.
The potential pitcher’s duel never really materialized, with Arizona’s Robbie Ray (12-7) exiting after allowing four runs on eight hits in five innings.
Walker and Flores homered in the bottom of the fourth off Kershaw, tying the game after the Dodgers raced to a 3-0 lead. Walker’s two-run shot was his fourth in 10 career at-bats against Kershaw.
Kershaw hung his head in exasperation as Walker’s drive hit above the yellow line on the center field batter’s eye.
The Dodgers went up 4-3 on a leadoff double from A.J. Pollock and Enrique Hernandez’s sacrifice fly in the fifth. But the Diamondbacks took their first lead, 5-4, on Nick Ahmed’s two-run double down the left field line with one out in the bottom of the inning.
Turner connected on a 2-0 pitch for his 26th home run of the season with two outs in the top of the third.
Smith hit his 13th homer of the season to open the fourth inning, another ball that landed in the seats in left field. Smith has 10 home runs since being called up from the minors July 26.
The Dodgers added Jedd Gyorko’s RBI double in the fourth for a 3-0 lead.
KERSHAW OFF THE MOUND
Kershaw had an interesting night beyond pitching. He reached back to catch a wayward toss from Gyorko and forced out Walker at the bag in the second inning. Then, he was thrown out at second base trying to stretch a single into a double two batters before Turner’s home run.
CELEBRATING MEXICAN BEISBOL
On the day the Diamondbacks celebrated their relationship with Mexico’s Pacific League, the team wore batting practice tops bearing the logos of the league’s teams and black “Los D-backs” jerseys.
Representatives from each of the LMP’s 10 teams attended, and the game had a Mexican feel to it with a live band playing in the stadium left-field bleachers.
The Hermosillo Naranjeros (Orange Growers) are often considered the most popular Mexican baseball team in Arizona, with its proximity to Mexico’s northern state of Sonora, where Hermosillo is located.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Dodgers: OF Alex Verdugo (oblique strain) will start a rehab assignment with rookie-level Ogden on Sunday, and manager Dave Roberts said Verdugo could be activated from the injured list next weekend.
Diamondbacks: IF Ketel Marte was out of the lineup for the second straight game with a lingering hamstring problem, though he pinch hit for Ray in the fifth. … RHP Luke Weaver (forearm tightness) will throw a simulated game Monday. … RHP Yoshihisa Hirano (right elbow soreness) will throw off a mound as the next step in his progression toward a return.
UP NEXT
Dodgers: RHP Ross Stripling is set to come off the injured list and start Sunday. Stripling (4-4, 3.64 earned run average) has made 12 starts this season.
Diamondbacks: LHP Alex Young (6-3, 3.81 ERA) is set for his third appearance against the Dodgers this season on Sunday.
