Diamondbacks Drop Game 2 of Series to Dodgers 8-6

Merrill Kelly had another poor outing and the offense was shut down after the third inning.

Aug 31, 2024; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers first base Freddie Freeman (5) runs the bases after hitting a solo home run against Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Merrill Kelly (29) during the first inning at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports / Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

It was another wild, seesaw game at Chase Field Saturday night between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Los Angeles Dodgers. On a night that saw no fewer than 21 balls hit 100 MPH or greater, it was a 67 MPH bloop single from Tommy Edman that turned out to be the game winner in a 8-6 Dodgers victory.

Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, and Freddie Freeman greeted D-backs starter Merrill Kelly in order by blasting 1,257 feet worth of solo home runs, staking L.A. to a quick 3-0 lead.

The shock of that barrage had barely worn off when Corbin Carroll drilled a 1-1 changeup from Gavin Stone off the centerfield wall. The ball bounced away from Kevin Kiermaier and Carroll raced all the way around the bases for his first ever inside the park homer.

The homer was Carroll's 19th of the year, fifth in his last five games, and 11th in the month of August.

Three more runs followed thanks to a two-rbi double from Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and a sacrifice fly from Eugenio Suarez. Suddenly after just one inning Arizona had a 4-3 lead.

That lead didn't last long. The Dodgers kept pounding Kelly, scoring two more in the second inning to go back in front 5-4.

Gurriel hit his 17th homer of the year in the third inning however, to even the score once again at 5-5.

Unfortunately Kelly could not stop giving up runs. A two-out double by Gavin Lux and RBI single from Max Muncy put L.A. up 6-5 in the fifth inning.

Kelly ended up going 5.1 innings, allowing six runs, four earned, on 10 hits, 1 walk and 1 strikeout. His ERA increased to 4.30, and would have been higher but two of the runs in the second inning were unearned due to Kelly's own throwing error on a player at third base.

Kelly's velocity was actually up in the game, but location mistakes in the middle of the zone led to the tsunami of hard contact. "Pretty much every pitch I got beat on tonight it was a missed location" Kelly said.

Kelly said the ball coming out of his hand was probably the best he's felt since coming back. "I'm just having trouble, especially glove side with the breaking stuff"

Kelly acknowledge that rust may have been a factor after such a long layoff due to his shoulder injury. He feels like his body is not synced up, meaning the lower half and his arm, and timing are just not right. Outside of pitching in simulation games and in the complex league, Kelly only had one affiliate rehab start in High A- Hillsboro before returning the majors.

The current situation begs the question in hindsight whether he should have pitched an additional rehab start or two. "Obviously the goal was to be back as fast as I could to try to help the team. I think that might be a question for the training staff or the front office if they would handle the rehab a little bit different."

Kelly emphasized that he had no problem with the plan that was laid out and put the onus on himself to be better.

Regardless of the reasons why, it was yet another poor outing from a Diamondbacks starter. The Diamondbacks starter's ERA for the month of August is now 5.23. With both Kelly and Zac Gallen struggling as well, the team has more questions than answers when it comes to pitching heading into September.

The D-backs scratched out a run in the seventh inning without a hit, thanks to a walk, sac bunt, wild pitch and sac fly to right by Caroll. Betts made a terrific running, leaping catch into the corner to rob extra bases on the play.

The top of the ninth was started by Ryan Thompson, who had come on to put out a fire in the eighth inning. He allowed two singles and a sacrifice bunt to put runners on second and third and two outs.

On came Justin Martinez to try to snuff out the Dodgers rally. It looked like he might pull it off, thanks to an incredible catch by Luis Guillorme on a line drive with the infield in. But Edman hit his bloop single to right in the next at bat, plating both runners and providing the margin of victory.

There was some question as to whether Lovullo should have put Martinez in at the start of the ninth with a clean inning. Lovullo would have if the D-backs had taken the lead in the eighth. But with a tie game heading to the ninth Lovullo was considering the possibility of needing to play extra innings with a "Ghost runner" starting the inning at second base.

"I know it's probably an easy target [to criticize that decision] but I wanted to split up those three innings [8th, 9th, and 10th] between Thompson and Martinez, and I was budgeting for 10 innings. I wanted some power in the 10th inning."

Game three of the series is Sunday at 1:10 P.M. The game will be broadcast on Roku. Brandon Pfaadt starts for the Arizona Diamondbacks, while left-hander Justin Wrobleski will go for the Dodgers.