PHOENIX — Justin Wrobleski gave the Dodgers everything they could have asked for. The bullpen held the line long enough. For seven innings, Los Angeles looked like a team ready to take the series. Then the eighth inning arrived, Will Klein could not get three outs, and Ketel Marte made sure none of it mattered. The Arizona Diamondbacks walked off with a 3-2 win Thursday night at Chase Field, stealing the series finale and splitting the four-game set two games apiece.
Wrobleski Deals, the Dodgers Scratch and Claw
For six innings, Wrobleski was exactly what the Dodgers needed him to be. Working efficiently against an Arizona lineup that could not put anything together, he scattered six hits, walked no one, and struck out four. His ERA dropped to 2.62 on the night, a further testament to what has quietly become one of the more reliable rotations in the National League. The Diamondbacks loaded the corners in the third but came away empty. Wrobleski took care of the rest himself.
The Dodgers broke through in the fifth. Kyle Tucker singled to start the inning, and after a Will Smith double play wiped him out, the bottom of the order answered. Max Muncy singled, and with pinch-runner Santiago Espinal on first, Ryan Ward doubled to center to score him and put Los Angeles on top. Dalton Rushing followed with a single to bring home Ward, and just like that it was 2-0. Ward finished the night 1-for-2 with a walk and an RBI. Rushing went 1-for-3 with an RBI of his own. The offense was not pretty, but it was enough. That is until it wasn’t.
The Eighth Inning Gives It All Back
This is where the night turned. Kyle Hurt had handled the seventh cleanly, picking up his fifth hold of the season with two strikeouts and allowing nothing. Then Will Klein entered with a 2-0 lead and a chance to hand it to the closer. He could not do it. Corbin Carroll led off with his ninth home run of the season, a fly ball to right that cut the deficit to one. Klein walked Gabriel Moreno. Nolan Arenado struck out, and it looked like the Dodgers might escape. Then Ryan Waldschmidt singled to put runners on first and second, and Alex Vesia came on to try to get the final out.
He did not. Geraldo Perdomo singled to center to score Moreno and tie the game at two. The 2-0 lead was gone. Seven innings of clean, controlled baseball erased in less than fifteen minutes. Klein was charged with two runs in a third of an inning, his ERA ticking up to 2.45. Vesia escaped without further damage but was tagged with his first blown save of the season. The 2-0 advantage had become a 2-2 tie, and the Dodgers now needed extra chances they would not get.
Marte Ends It
The ninth inning belonged to Ketel Marte. Tanner Scott entered to try to send it to extras. Tommy Troy struck out to open the inning. Then Marte stepped in and did not waste time. He drove a Scott offering over the left-field wall for his 11th home run of the season, a walk-off shot that sent Chase Field into a frenzy and sent the Dodgers home with a loss. Scott dropped to 1-3 on the year. Paul Sewald, who had handled the ninth with a scoreless inning of his own, picked up the win. The final was 3-2, Arizona, in nine.
The Dodgers finished with six hits and struck out five times. Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman, the top two in the order, went a combined 0-for-8. The offense was scattered throughout, never able to string anything together once the fifth inning scoring was done. Tucker went 1-for-4 with a strikeout. Will Smith doubled in the ninth with two outs and a chance to tie it, but Espinal struck out to end the threat. Chances that almost materialized, but did not. That was the story of the night.
Up Next
Los Angeles returns home to start a new series against the Angels. Roki Sasaki takes the mound Friday as the Dodgers look to reset after a road split they will not want to dwell on for long.
