Field Level Media
Mar 31, 2019
A.J. Pollock proved to be a headache for his former team, delivering a game-tying double and scoring the go-ahead run in the eighth inning as the Los Angeles Dodgers rallied for an 8-7 victory Sunday against the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks.
Pollock, who left the Diamondbacks in the offseason to sign a free agent deal with the Dodgers, had two hits in the series finale after delivering a four-hit game against Arizona on Friday. His two-run double in the eighth tied the score 7-7 and he came home on a sacrifice fly from Max Muncy.
Diamondbacks starting pitcher Luke Weaver hit a two-run home run and also pitched 4 1/3 innings, leaving with a 7-5 lead. But the Dodgers but together their comeback long after he had been removed from the game.
Cody Bellinger hit his third home run in two days and his fourth of the season for the Dodgers, as Los Angeles scored 42 runs during its opening four games, winning three of them.
After scoring 12 runs in their season-opening victory and 18 more on Saturday, the Dodgers looked like they were on their way to double digits again when they scored three runs in the opening inning.
Enrique Hernandez gave the Dodgers their first run on a sacrifice fly and Alex Verdugo added a two-run double to give starter Walker Buehler a 3-0 after one inning. When Bellinger added his home run in the third inning deep into the seats in right field, the lead was 4-0.
The first five Diamondbacks batters reached base in the fourth against Buehler, with David Peralta delivering an RBI single and Ketel Marte knocking Buehler from the game with a two-run single. Against Dodgers reliever Pedro Baez, Arizona got a two-run double from Nick Ahmed and Weaver's blast in the seats in left field for a 7-4 lead.
It was not only Weaver's first career home run, it was his first extra-base hit in more than 70 at-bats. On the mound, the right-hander gave up five runs (four earned) on six hits with two walks and three strikeouts. Arizona reliever Yoshihisa Hirano (0-1) took the loss after giving up three runs in the eighth.
Buehler gave up five runs on five hits with a walk in three-plus innings and did not strike out a batter. The outing matched Buehler's career high for earned runs in a start and was the first time he did not strike out a batter as a starter.
Dodgers right-hander Dylan Floro (1-0) pitched a scoreless eighth inning to pick up the victory, while closer Kenley Jansen pitched a perfect ninth inning for his first save.
--Field Level Media