After the pomp and circumstance that came from the Dodgers’ second consecutive ring night, the Dodgers had a close affair on Friday against the Arizona Diamondbacks, pulling away late to win 5-4.
Emmet Sheehan made his first start of the season, and he made quick work of the first three Arizona hitters by striking out the side in order. The final one of the inning was initially called a ball, but Will Smith issued a challenge and the Dodgers won their first ABS challenge in team history.
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Arizona began the top of the second inning by putting their first two hitters on base via a single from Gabriel Moreno and a walk to Pavin Smith. Sheehan managed to strike out Nolan Arenado and get Carlos Santana to fly out, but Alek Thomas got the Diamondbacks in front early with an RBI double that could’ve scored two, but a great relay from Kyle Tucker and Alex Freeland caught Smith at the plate. Arizona padded their lead to two as Ketel Marte launched a line drive home run to right field in the top of the third inning on a 3-0 fastball from Sheehan.
Arizona right-hander Ryne Nelson was one out away from keeping the Dodgers at bay over the first time through the lineup, but Alex Freeland got one of the two runs back with a towering home run to right field— a little thank you to Dave Roberts for adding him to the opening day roster. Shohei Ohtani and Kyle Tucker both walked against Nelson to put the potential tying and go-ahead runners on base, and Mookie Betts, who homered twice on ring night last year, crushed a go-ahead three-run home run to right-center field to give the Dodgers their third four-run inning over their first 11 innings on offense.
Sheehan struggled again in his second time facing the bottom half of Arizona’s lineup, as he allowed his second walk to Smith and a double to Carlos Santana to put the tying run in scoring position. Sheehan was pulled after tossing 83 pitches over just 3 1/3 innings of work, allowing two earned runs on five hits and two walks while striking out six. Jack Dreyer came in relief of Sheehan, and Thomas once again made the Dodgers pay with his second double of the night, this time driving in two and tying the game, but Thomas overran the third base bag going for a triple and was tagged out.
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Arizona threatened to retake the lead in the top of the sixth inning, as Ben Casparius allowed two baserunners while recording just two outs in the top of the sixth inning. Dave Roberts went to Tanner Scott for the second day in a row, needing him to put away Thomas with the go-ahead run at second base. The gamble paid off, and Scott struck him out to get the Dodgers out of the jam.
Both Alex Vesia and Edgardo Henríquez tossed a scoreless inning as the bullpen kept the Diamondbacks off the board after the second double from Thomas. The Dodgers couldn’t supply anything offensively after the home run from Betts, going hitless over their next 14 at-bats against Nelson and the Arizona bullpen. Freeland snapped the hitless skid to begin the bottom of the eighth inning with a ringing double to the right-center field gap. Ohtani moved him over to third on a groundout, and Tucker lined a ball into right field past a drawn in infield to put the Dodgers back on top by a run.
This set up the perfect opportunity for Edwin Díaz to make his Dodger debut, and emerged from the left field bullpen to the blaring sounds of “Narco” by Timmy Trumpet for the first time at his new home. Díaz put the tying run on base, but struck out two and tossed a scoreless inning to pick up his first save as a Dodger and help his new squad take the opening series from Arizona.
The Dodgers last season started the year 8-0. They are a quarter of the way there this time around.
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Game particulars
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Home runs— Ketel Marte (1); Alex Freeland (1), Mookie Betts (1)
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WP— Edgardo Henríquez (1-0): 1 IP, 0 hits, 0 runs, 0 walks, 1 strikeout
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LP— Kevin Ginkel (0-1): 1 IP, 2 hits, 1 earned run, 0 walks, 0 strikeouts
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SV— Edwin Díaz (1): 1 IP, 0 hits, 0 runs, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts
Up next
The Dodgers try to go for a sweep as they wrap things up against Arizona on Saturday (6:10 p.m. PT, SportsNet LA). Tyler Glasnow makes his first start of the season against left-hander Eduardo Rodríguez.
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