Dodgers Celebrate NL West Title on Chase Field Mound after 4-0 Win
In each and every game of each and every season, the gap between the Dodgers and Diamondbacks only seems to widen. That point was driven home yet again in the D-backs 4-0 loss tonight at Chase Field. The Dodgers clinched their 9th NL West title in the last 10 years. Winning pitcher Clayton Kershaw (8-3) pitched the 4th division winning game of his career. He did so in dominating fashion, allowing just two hits and one walk in 7 shutout innings on just 82 pitches.
The D-backs and their fans got to watch the Dodgers celebrate their division title and take a team photo out on the mound at Chase Field. Torey Lovullo addressed the frustration of seeing the Dodgers celebrate on their turf, in front of many Dodger fans.
The Dodgers now lead the season series over Arizona 11-2, with a whopping 73-32 run differential. Since 2020 the head to head record between these two teams is now 35-7 in favor of LA.
Playing a dynamic brand of baseball, the Diamondbacks were looking forward to the challenge of being tested against the best team in the league. After all, this is not the same D-backs team we saw prior to the all star break. The young core of position players have been getting on base, getting timely hits, running the bases with abandon, and flashing the leather on a nightly basis. They were schooled on this night by the future Hall of Fame however, driving home the point they still have a long way to go.
Tonight's starter Merrill Kelly (12-6) was looking to reverse his own negative trend. Enjoying an excellent season overall, he came into the game 12-2, with a 2.38 ERA against every other team in the league. But against the Dodgers he was 0-3, this season, having allowed 14 runs in 13 inning. He was also 0-7 in 10 career starts against L.A.
The Dodgers got to Kelly with the long ball early. Joey Gallo hit a two run shot to the home run porch in the second inning. Freddie Freeman hit a solo shot over the pool in right for the third Dodger run, providing more than enough cushion for Kershaw. To Kelly's credit he stopped the bleeding and battled through 5 innings. He gave up 5 hits, walked 5 batters, one intentionally, and struck out 8. Speaking about grinding through the outing Kelly said:
"I just didn't do a good job of getting ahead of people. I put myself in a lot of bad counts, a lot of bad situations. I said it before, against a team like that it's probably not going to go your way if you're doing that. Honestly the fact that I walked five and got out of there with only three is somewhat of a win against those guys"
Kelly threw a first-pitch strike to only 11 of the 25 batters he faced tonight.
After not being able to touch Kershaw, the D-backs finally had a chance in the 8th against reliever Caleb Ferguson. With two runners on to start the inning, a strikeout by Geraldo Perdomo and a double play by Carson Kelly extinguished whatever flicker of hope Arizona had of coming back.
After being outscored 10-0 through two games so far, Arizona will hope to salvage the final game of the series tomorrow night at 6:40 P.M. MST. Zach Davies will get the start for Arizona. The Dodger starter is listed as TBA as of this writing.
