While it would be far from revenge, the Los Angeles Dodgers still can earn a series victory when they face the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday night in Phoenix.
The buzz during the second contest of the three-game series Tuesday came from a colony of thousands of bees that formed on the backstop behind home plate. It delayed the game nearly two hours at the outset until a beekeeper could arrive.
A honey of a victory for Arizona followed on two home runs from Christian Walker, including a game-ending two-run shot in the 10th inning for a 4-3 win.
Given the choice, Los Angeles would have preferred to win the National League Division Series against Arizona last year. Instead, the Diamondbacks moved on and ultimately made it to the World Series.
A bit of healing can come for the Dodgers by winning two of the three games of the current series. They posted an 8-4 win in the series opener on Monday.
Los Angeles is 6-2 on its current nine-game road trip. The offense has shown improvement, although the Dodgers didn’t have an RBI on Tuesday until Will Smith’s sacrifice fly in the 10th inning.
Already without relievers Brusdar Graterol, Kyle Hurt, Ryan Brasier and Blake Treinen, right-hander Joe Kelly felt groin discomfort during his outing Tuesday. His status moving forward is to be determined.
“Every team is in the same situation,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of his bullpen availability. “We’re on the back end of nine (games) in a row and when you win a lot of games, you use your leverage guys, and that’s just part of it. You have to figure out ways to navigate it.”
Los Angeles right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto (2-1, 3.54 ERA) is set to take the mound Wednesday.
Yamamoto never made it to the second inning of a disastrous MLB debut in March but has gone 2-0 with a 2.00 ERA in his last five starts. His most recent start was the best of the bunch when he gave up four hits over six scoreless innings with seven strikeouts in a 2-1 victory over the Washington Nationals on Thursday.
The Diamondbacks are expected to counter on Wednesday with left-hander Jordan Montgomery (1-1, 2.77 ERA). In his most recent outing, he pitched seven innings against the St. Louis Cardinals last Wednesday, taking the loss in his team’s 5-1 defeat. Montgomery gave up three runs on seven hits, walking one and striking out four.
Montgomery is 0-2 in two career appearances against the Dodgers, with a 5.91 ERA and 10 strikeouts over 10 2/3 innings.
Arizona will need length out of Montomery after seven pitchers were called on to get through the 10-inning game against Los Angeles on Tuesday.
Montgomery warmed up and was ready to start, but manager Torey Lovullo elected to bypass his veteran until Wednesday after the long bee delay.
“Being able to get through this game, you scratch your starter because of something you can never ever predict, and the bullpen goes out and keeps it in striking range the entire night,” Lovullo said. “I’m just proud of this group.”
–Field Level Media
