The Diamondbacks handed the Los Angeles Dodgers a 4-1 defeat on June 1, using a trio of home runs and timely bullpen work to preserve the margin. Arizona’s offense produced three long balls that accounted for the difference, while the staff limited the Dodgers to a lone run and Paul Sewald closed out the game to secure the win.
Los Angeles got on the board early. In the third inning, Shohei Ohtani doubled, setting the stage for a run that would come on Freddie Freeman’s RBI groundout later in that frame. Eduardo Rodriguez was on the mound for Arizona during those plays and yielded the run that put the Dodgers in front, 1-0. Earlier in the game, a heads-up relay by Vargas — who fielded quickly and made a sharp throw — set up a tag by Moreno that cut down Mookie Betts and interrupted a potential Dodgers threat.
Arizona’s defense made several eye-catching plays that helped keep the deficit small long enough for the D-backs’ bats to answer. Outfielder Jorge Barrosa made two spectacular diving grabs to rob Los Angeles hitters of extra-base hits; he leapt and extended on consecutive plays to take away swings from Will Smith and Andy Pages in separate innings. Those grabs turned potential rallies into outs and preserved the game within reach for Arizona.
The tide turned against Dodgers starter Emmet Sheehan in the late innings. Sheehan had an early moment in the game when he struck out Nolan Arenado, but he later surrendered two homers that swung momentum to Arizona. In the sixth inning, Tommy Troy connected for the first home run of his Major League career off Sheehan, tying the game at 1-1. The blast was a milestone for Troy and provided the D-backs with a lift, knotted at a time when momentum was still in question.
Just a frame after Troy’s milestone shot, the D-backs took the lead. Nolan Arenado followed with a go-ahead homer — his eighth of the season — again off Emmet Sheehan, and Arizona moved in front, 2-1. That swing gave the Diamondbacks their first lead of the night and put pressure on the Dodgers’ lineup to answer in the later innings. Despite surrendering two long balls, Sheehan maintained the velocity on his fastball throughout his outing, an encouraging sign noted after the game even as the homers cost him the lead.
Arizona extended the advantage in the eighth inning when Ketel Marte launched a two-run homer off Jack Dreyer. Marte’s long ball — the 10th of his season — pushed the D-backs’ advantage to 4-1 and provided breathing room late in the game. Those three homers — Troy’s first career long ball, Arenado’s go-ahead homer, and Marte’s two-run shot — accounted for the Arizona offense in the victory and helped the club tack another win onto the record.
Arizona’s pitching staff once again showed the depth the team has been leaning on all season. The club’s starters have combined to produce 18 quality starts since May 5, the most in the Major Leagues over that span, a statistic that has underpinned many of the Diamondbacks’ recent results. In this game the starters did enough to keep the Dodgers at bay until the offense could provide multiple leads, and the bullpen followed through to close the door.
In the ninth, Paul Sewald was summoned to finish the game and did so with a clean outing, recording the final outs and earning the save. Will Smith was the last Dodger batter Sewald faced, and the closer finished the job to preserve the 4-1 final. Arizona’s combination of clutch hitting, timely defense and dependable relief pitching produced a complete effort and the victory over Los Angeles.