Dodgers 2 Diamondbacks 3: Offense Comes Up Short Again

The Dodgers lost their third straight one-run game to open their series in Arizona.

Coming off a terrible series offensively, the last thing the Dodgers needed was to face old friend Zack Greinke. We all remember his terrible start to this season, but he’s been the Greinke we all remember lately, as he came into this game with a 16 inning scoreless streak.

So naturally, the Dodgers crushed the ball in the first inning.

Chase Utley struck out to start the game, but then this happened. Justin Turner, who had an incredibly frustrating series in SF as he crushed the ball and didn’t have much to show for it, hit the ball off the centerfield wall to open up the scoring. Adrian Gonzalez‘s hit was just a groundout, and the Dodgers stranded Turner at third.

Mike Bolsinger came into the game having allowed five homers in four starts this season. That is not a good combination with this ballpark in Arizona. Paul Goldschmidt started the home run party in the first (for real why do the Dodgers ever pitch to him??), and Jake Lamb added a solo shot in the third to put Arizona ahead.

When the Dodgers originally signed Greinke, Greinke was very aware of their farm system. According to the LA Times, he really liked their 2012 first round draft pick, Corey Seager. Seager hit a 98 MPH single off Greinke in their first face off, and hit a 106 MPH 440 foot Dodger-celebration-pool-clearing home run to tie the game in the fourth.

Bolsinger gave up the lead in the fifth after Greinke hit a one-out knock. He was replaced on a fielders’ choice by Nick Ahmed, who stole second and scored on a Jean Segura RBI single. That chased him after only 4.2 innings of work, which is pretty much about what the Dodgers should expect from Bolsinger. Fiveish innings, threeish runs.

Greinke, of course, gives you quite a bit better than that. He finished the night after seven innings of two-run ball. The Dodgers had some hits and worked counts pretty well, as Greinke made 119 pitches which matched his high from last season. However, they could only muster the two runs off him.

The Dodgers had their chances with runners in scoring position against Greinke. They had first and second with no outs in the third inning, but Greinke struck out Adrian Gonzalez and Trayce Thompson and got Joc Pederson to fly out. In the sixth, Yasmani Grandal got to third, but Nick Ahmed made a great over-the-shoulder catch on a blooper to end the threat.

Their best opportunity came in the eighth, as Daniel Hudson took over for Greinke and got himself in trouble right away. After Gonzalez popped out, Hudson walked Thompson, Pederson and Grandal before being pulled for closer Brad Ziegler. Ziegler struck Enrique Hernandez out on three pitches, and got Howie Kendrick down 1-2 before Kendrick hit a liner to center, only to be caught by a diving Michael Bourne. The Dodgers have definitely been bad on offense, but it just seems that when you’re going bad, you can’t catch a break.

Ziegler came back out and retired the Dodgers in order in the ninth inning. According to Joe Davis, this was the first time the Dodgers have dropped three straight one-run games since 2013. Given the pitching matchup, this loss wasn’t a surprise at all. However, it just makes the last two losses sting a bit more. Couple that with the Giants taking on the Brewers, and the Dodgers really just need to get it together on offense. Bolsinger was Bolsinger. The bullpen gave up some baserunners but was generally fine. There’s a very clear weakness to this team right now, and it’s basically five or six of their eight starters on offense.

Next: The Case Against Trading Puig

Kenta Maeda looks to put an end to their losing streak tomorrow night against Archie Bradley. First pitch is scheduled for 6:40