Diamondbacks 2023 Season Review: NL Division Series

D-backs slay some dragons with a cathartic series sweep over the Dodgers

After their surprising sweep of the Brewers in the Wild Card series, the Diamondbacks took off for Los Angeles to face the Dodgers in the the NL Division Series. Once again the D-backs were heavy underdogs. After all the Dodgers won 100 games and finished a full 16 games ahead of the D-backs in the Division.  The D-backs had some success against LA to start the season, but ultimately the Dodgers took the season series 8-5. That included a three game sweep at Dodger Stadium in late August  in which the D-backs were outscored 23-5

Indeed, Dodger Stadium had become a house of horrors for Arizona over the years. Since 2019 they were just 7-31 in that ballpark.  The Dodgers were led this year by Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman, who ultimately finished second and third in the NL MVP voting. They would be sending future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw to the mound at home, while the D-backs would counter with Merrill Kelly, a pitcher who had never beaten the Dodgers, home or away, going 0-11 with a 5.49 ERA in 16 starts. It was even worse in Dodger stadium where he had a 7.03 ERA in eight starts.  If ever there were a dragon to slay, this was it. 

Game 1:  Diamondbacks 11, Dodgers 2

The game started with a blistering double 116 MPH off the bat of Ketel Marte, and the D-backs poured it on  Kershaw from there.  Two singles and a double later the D-backs were already up 2-0 when Gabriel Moreno stepped up. He worked an 0-2 count back to full, and then crushed a 419 foot homer. The D-backs had stunned the LA crowd into silence by scoring five runs off Kershaw before he recorded an out.  They made it six runs, and knocked the left-hander out of the game in the first inning. 

Pitching with a huge lead, Kelly threw shutout baseball for 6.1 innings while giving up just three hits, walking two, and striking out five. He never gave the Dodgers a chance to get back in the game.  You can read the full game story at link below

Diamondbacks Crush Clayton Kershaw and Dodgers in 11-2 Victory

Game 2: Diamondbacks 4, Dodgers 2

Once again the D-backs jumped out to an early lead, this time off of rookie Bobby Miller in the first inning. Christian Walker hit a deep sac fly with the bases loaded, Moreno had an RBI groundout, and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. hit an RBI single to stake ace Zac Gallen with a 3-0  advantage.

Gallen made it stand up, pitching into the sixth inning and giving up just two runs.  The biggest moment came when he struck out Freeman with runners on the corner and two outs in the fifth. Gurriel hit a homer in the 6th inning and the bullpen shut down the game for Gallen over the final three innings, with Paul Sewald picking up his third save of the postseason just four games in. 

Game 3:  Diamondbacks 4, Dodgers 2

Back home in Arizona, the D-backs sent rookie Brandon Pfaadt to the mound to face veteran Lance Lynn. The D-backs broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the third in stunning fashion. Geraldo Perdomo led off the inning with a homer to right to get things started. One out later,  Marte pulled one deep down the line to make it two zip.  Dave Roberts stuck with his homer prone veteran, and that turned out to be huge mistake.

Christian Walker ripped a line drive home to left, upping the score to 3-0. That brought up Gabriel Moreno, who appeared to have hit an improbable fourth homer in the inning to the opposite field bullpen. It was rule foul upon review however. Incredibly, miraculously, Moreno crushed the next pitch over the wall in left center to the most thunderous roar that's been heard in Chase Field since Archie Bradley's triple in the 2017 Wild Card game. 

Brandon Pfaadt meanwhile was outstanding, throwing shutout baseball for 4.1 innings, giving up just two hits and not walking a batter. Torey Lovullo pulled him early in the fifth inning however following a one out double. Joe Mantiply got the final two outs preserving Pfaadt's line. The Dodgers pulled within two in the seventh inning with a couple of runs against Ryan Thompson, but Andrew Saalfrank, Kevin Ginkel, and Paul Sewald shut it down from there.  Sewald picked up his fourth save of the postseason.  

The total domination of the Dodgers was a cathartic victory for Arizona, outscoring them 19-6 in the series sweep. Betts and Freeman were held to just 1-21 at the plate, the lone hit being an infield single from Freeman.  The D-backs went out to the pool to celebrate, where even their manager joined in the fun,  and then off to Philadelphia to face the Phillies in the NLCS.

 

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