PHOENIX — The Dodgers had held the Arizona Diamondbacks to a single run through six innings and looked like they were going to steal a low-scoring road game. Then the seventh happened. Then the eighth. Then it was over. Los Angeles fell 4-1 to Arizona at Chase Field on Monday to open the four-game series, dropping a game Emmet Sheehan had kept tight long enough to win.
The offense couldn’t get anything going against Eduardo Rodriguez, who worked through the LA lineup efficiently and held the Dodgers scoreless from the third inning on. Los Angeles finished with six hits, left five on base, and went 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position. It was the kind of game where the starting pitcher did his job and the bats didn’t show up to return the favor.
Sheehan Keeps It Close, Then the Bullpen Cracks
Sheehan was good enough to win this game. He worked 6.1 innings, allowed three hits, struck out three, and gave up just two earned runs. For most of the night he was in command, getting ahead of Arizona hitters, limiting hard contact, and bailing himself out of the one real jam he faced. Corbin Carroll doubled sharply to right in the first, but Sheehan got Geraldo Perdomo to fly out and struck out Nolan Arenado to strand him. That set the tone for how his night went: a little turbulence, nothing that turned into damage.
The Diamondbacks went down quietly through the third, fourth, and fifth. Arizona managed just one baserunner across those three frames combined. Sheehan was working quickly, keeping the ball on the ground, and giving the Dodgers exactly what they needed in a one-run game. Through six, his ERA for the night was pristine.
Then Arenado happened. With two outs in the seventh and nobody on, he lifted a fly ball to left-center that kept carrying. Six-plus innings of good work, neutralized by one swing. Sheehan was pulled. He didn’t lose this game. His bullpen did.
Alex Vesia came on and got through the seventh without adding to the damage. But Jack Dreyer couldn’t hold the line in the eighth. Tommy Troy put down a bunt single to lead off the inning, and Ketel Marte stepped in and made the Dodgers pay. His line drive to left field was gone off the bat. Two runs scored. A game that had been winnable three outs earlier was suddenly a 4-1 deficit with no runway left.
Ohtani Carries the Offense Alone
Shohei Ohtani was the best Dodger on the field Monday. He went 3-for-4, reached base every time he came up with a hit, and was personally responsible for the only run Los Angeles scored all night. In the third inning, he doubled sharply to center to put himself in scoring position, then moved to third on an Andy Pages double. Freddie Freeman grounded out to bring him home and the Dodgers were ahead 1-0. That was it. That was the entire offensive output.
Ohtani also singled in the fifth to give the Dodgers something to work with, but Pages lined out to center two batters later and Freeman flew out to strand him. The pattern repeated itself all night. Ohtani would get on, the lineup would threaten briefly, and then the middle of the order would go cold at the worst time. Freeman finished 0-for-4 with one RBI. Mookie Betts singled once and disappeared. Kyle Tucker walked and never scored. The Dodgers generated traffic and did nothing with it.
Troy Sets the Table, Marte Finishes the Meal
The Diamondbacks didn’t need much. They needed Arenado to stay hot and Marte to find a pitch he liked in the eighth. Both things happened. Arenado’s seventh-inning solo shot was his eighth of the season and arrived at the exact moment it could do the most damage, wiping a lead the Dodgers had nursed for four innings. It was the kind of at-bat that shifts the entire emotional weight of a game.
Marte’s blast was more decisive. Troy laid down a perfect bunt to open the eighth, beating it out for a single and giving Arizona something to work with. Marte turned on the very next pitch, drove it to left on a line, and it was gone before anyone had time to react. His tenth homer of the season. Two runs, a 4-1 lead, and the game sealed before the Dodgers even had a chance to answer. Paul Sewald closed it out in the ninth with no drama, needing just six pitches to retire the side in order.
Up Next
The Dodgers and Diamondbacks continue their four-game series Tuesday at Chase Field. Eric Lauer takes the mound for Los Angeles against Arizona’s Mike Soroka. First pitch is scheduled for 6:40 p.m. PST.
