The Dodgers looked to be destined for another late loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday, but the bullpen hung on and Tommy Edman played the hero in a 5-4 win over 11 innings.
Shohei Ohtani began
the game with a triple high off the center field wall against Ryne Nelson, extending his on-base streak to 28 games. Mookie Betts plated him with a sacrifice fly that put the Dodgers in front early, but Nelson made quick work of the next two hitters he faced.
Arizona quickly responded against Blake Snell with a ringing double from Ketel Marte to begin the bottom of the first, later advancing to third on a weak bouncer back to the mound. A walk to Corbin Carroll put men on the corners with one out, and Gabriel Moreno tied the game with a sacrifice fly of his own. After a pair of stolen bases put the speedy Carroll at third base, Snell struck out Blaze Alexander to preserve the tie.
The Dodgers began to mount a rally against Nelson with two outs in the top of the third with singles from Betts and Freddie Freeman. Facing Max Muncy, Nelson tossed a fastball that caught the outside corner of the zone, but was ruled a ball much to the surprise of everyone on the field. Nelson bounced back to strike out Muncy swinging on a full count curveball to limit the threat.
After Tommy Edman connected for his second hit against Nelson in the top of the fourth, Andy Pages cashed in Edman and himself on a monster two-run home run to make it a two run Dodger lead. Pages’ 26 home runs on the year are double from his total as a rookie, with only six of them coming away from Dodger Stadium.
Snell kept Arizona in check after the first inning, where the southpaw tossed six innings for a third consecutive start. The sacrifice fly from Moreno was the first run he allowed since a five run meltdown in Pittsburgh, and his five strikeouts on the night were the lowest in a start since Aug. 22 against the San Diego Padres. Snell officially closes the book on an injury-plagued first regular season with the Dodgers, finishing with a 2.35 ERA and 72 strikeouts over just 61 1/3 innings pitched.
Roki Sasaki made his return from injury after being sidelined for four months, making his first ever relief appearance at the big league level. Sasaki’s fastball reached a maximum speed of 99.8 miles per hour in a perfect bottom of the seventh where he struck out two on just 13 pitches, eight of which went for strikes.
The Dodgers grabbed a huge insurance run with Teoscar Hernández slicing an RBI double in the top of the eighth inning to make it a three run game. Hernández advanced to third on the play with Geraldo Perdomo bobbling the relay throw.
Alex Vesia came in for a second straight game to begin the bottom of the eighth, and the same issues the bullpen experienced on Tuesday persisted. Marte slapped a one out single before Vesia lost a 10 pitch battle against Perdomo on a free pass. Carroll brought home Marte on a line drive double that cut the lead in half, and Edgardo Henríquez was brought in to face Moreno with the tying run in scoring position. Moreno chopped a swinging bunt that Ben Rortvedt could not handle, allowing Perdomo to score and place the tying run 90 feet away from scoring. Torey Luvollo called on pinch-hitter Adrian Del Castillo to make it a brand new ball game as he did the night before. Del Castillo lined a deep fly ball that Edman managed to grab, but plenty deep enough for Carroll to score and tie the game and once again ruining a Dodger starter’s chances of securing the win after a quality start.
Clayton Kershaw made his first relief appearance in either the regular or postseason since his infamous implosions against the Washington Nationals in Game 5 of the 2019 NLDS. Kershaw got the first two hitters he saw to ground out, and an incredible diving catch from Edman robbed Marte of extra bases and sent the game to extra innings.
A base hit from Mookie Betts looked to score the ghost runner Hyeseong Kim, but a slight hesitation from Kim off the second base bag allowed Carroll to gun him down.
The Dodgers appeared to trend towards another walk-off defeat as Jack Dreyer loaded the bases with only one out. After getting pinch hitter Jake McCarthy to pop out, Blake Treinen took over to face the James McCann, and Treinen kept the game alive by inducing a fly out.
As dazzling as Edman was in center field defensively, his third hit of the game scored Freeman in the top of the 11th against Brandyn Garcia to give the Dodgers the lead again. Justin Wrobleski secured his second save of the season as the Dodgers keep their hunt for another division title alive.
The Dodgers’ magic number is now down to just 1 after the Milwaukee Brewers defeated the San Diego Padres. The Philadelphia Phillies did clinch a first round bye with a dominant win over the Miami Marlins, meaning the Dodgers will indeed play in the Wild Card series. Arizona is now hanging by a thread, as they and the Cincinnati Reds are only one game behind the New York Mets for the final Wild Card spot.
Game particulars
- Home runs— Andy Pages (26)
- WP— Blake Treinen (2-7): 1/3 IP, 0 hits, 0 runs, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts
- LP— Brandyn Garcia (0-2): 2 IP, 2 hits, 1 run (0 earned), 0 walks, 3 strikeouts
- SV— Justin Wrobleski (2): 1 IP, 0 hits, 0 runs, 0 walks, 2 strikeouts
Up next
The Dodgers wrap things up in Arizona on Thursday (12:40 p.m. PT, SportsNet LA) before heading out to Seattle to take on the Mariners for their final regular season series. Yoshinobu Yamamoto makes his final start of the regular season against Zac Gallen.
