The Dodgers (77-58) were shutout 3-0 by Zac Gallen and the Arizona Diamondbacks (67-69) in the series opener Friday night at Dodger Stadium.
Blake Snell’s velocity was down, yet he didn’t allow a base hit until the fourth inning when Lourdes Gurriel Jr. singled and Blaze Alexander took him deep. Although Snell left in the sixth down by three runs, he got absolutely no run support for his pitching efforts.
Gallen is having an off year, but he put together one of his best starts of the season on Friday
night against the Dodgers. The right-hander started the game wild with a leadoff walk to Shohei Ohtani, but he settled down and struck out six batters through the first third of the game.
Teoscar Hernández robbed Corbin Carroll of a leadoff double in the top of the fourth with an ice cream cone sliding catch in right field. Dave Roberts had to challenge the no catch call, but it was overturned along with a smile from Hernández on the field.
Blaze Alexander put the D-backs on the board first with a two-out two-run home run against Snell. The Snakes added a third run in the sixth on a two-strike RBI base hit by Gabriel Moreno. That would be all for Snell who left the game down by three.
The Dodgers finally mustered a second base hit off Gallen, a booming Mookie Betts double in the bottom half of the sixth. Will Smith came up representing the tying run with two on and two outs. He took a Gallen slider deep to left field, but it didn’t have enough on it to leave the yard. Smith has been struggling in the month of August with a .159 average for the month coming into Friday’s game.
The bullpen did some good work with 3 2/3 scoreless innings of relief.
The offense was not good at all, and other than a two-out Andy Pages single in the bottom of the seventh, the L.A. bats were completely shut down for the rest of the game as well.
Friday particulars
Home run: Blaze Alexander (7)
WP — Zac Gallen (10-13) : 6 IP, 2 hits, no runs, 3 walks, 8 strikeouts (96 pitches)
LP — Blake Snell (3-2): 5 1/3 IP, 4 hits, 3 runs, 3 walks, 8 strikeouts (86 pitches)
S — Jake Woodford (2): 1 IP, no hits, no runs, 1 walk, 1 strikeout
Up next
The Dodgers and Diamondbacks go at it again Saturday night (6:10 p.m.; SportsNet LA, MLB Network). Tyler Glasnow (1-2, 3.36 ERA, 1.17 WHIP) goes up against left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez (5-8, 5.67 ERA, 1.64 WHIP).
