Clayton Kershaw and Dodgers Knocked Around by Snakes in Wild 18-7 Trouncing

Dodgers 7 13 0

Diamondbacks 18 21 1

WP- Anderson (2-0)

LP- Kershaw (2-1)

HR- Puig (9), Owings (2), Crawford (3), Goldschmidt 2(9), Chavez (2), Pollock (5)

It was a night to forget. The Arizona D-backs set all kinds of records at the expense of the Dodgers on Saturday night at Chase Field. The Snakes scored a franchise record 18 runs, Paul Goldschmidt had a career-high six RBIs and a club record of five runs scored, they hit three triples in one inning, and the Dodgers brought a record number of tears to my eyes.

May 17, 2014; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw (22) throws in the first inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports

Tonight was Clayton Kershaw‘s second-shortest start of his career. He only lasted 1 1/3 innings against the Brewers back on May 4, 2010. Kersh wasn’t able to locate his fastball, and his slider was ineffective. When he began to rely on his curveball, the Snakes were sitting on it in wait. He became so flustered in the epically bad seven-run second inning which included three triples hit by Arizona, a balk was even called on him.

One of the only positives to take from this game is that Yasiel Puig is good at baseball. Even though he struck out three times, he also hit a huge homerun which extended his hitting streak to 16 games and eight consecutive games with an extra base hit. The Dodgers did rally back to score five runs in the sixth inning to put them within two runs of the D-backs, but the terrible Dodger bullpen went on to allow 9 runs after Withrow, Perez, and Butera entered the scene.

If you want to relive the pain, please keep on reading…

Dee Gordon opens the game with a lead-off single to center. With Yasiel Puig at the plate, a wild pitch by Chase Anderson allows Gordon to scurry over to second. Puig swings on a 3-2 changeup off the plate, and he goes down on strikes. Hanley Ramirez hits a soft line drive to third, and Martin Prado makes a nice catch for the second out. Adrian Gonzalez walks as Chase Anderson falls down on the mound. Matt Kemp grounds into a force out, and the Dodgers strand two men.

Clayton Kershaw continues his domination as he sends down the Snakes in order on just 10 pitches in the bottom of the first while striking out Chris Owings and Paul Goldschmidt.

Cliff Pennington makes a diving stop at second to rob Carl Crawford of a base hit in the second inning. Juan Uribe singles, but A.J. Ellis grounds into a double play to end the inning.

Kershaw allows a rare walk to Cody Ross to lead-off the bottom of the second. Martin Prado singles on a high chopper over Gonzalez’s head, and Ross ends up at third. Kersh rears back to strike out Alfredo Marte on a 73-mph rainbow curve. Then Pennington takes a Kershaw curve for a ride as he crushes a triple to the gap in left center, and everyone on base scores. Tuffy Gosewisch then proceeds to single in Pennington, and the D-backs have a 3-0 lead. Chase Anderson bunts over Tuffy to second, then A.J. Pollock smacks a stand-up triple off another meatball by Kersh, and Snakes have scored four times in the disastrous frame. Then Kershaw allows the THIRD triple of the inning. Chris Owings takes a Kersh pitch for a ride as Kemp falls down trying to make the play. Rick Honeycutt finally goes out to the mound to talk to Kershaw. Paul Goldschmidt becomes the ninth man to come to the plate in the frame. Goldy bangs a double to left field, and now it’s 6-0. Then a balk is called on Kersh, and then he proceeds to walk Cody Ross. Don Mattingly finally has seen enough, and he goes out to the mound to take out the flustered and battered ace.

Jamey Wright will come in to take over with two outs and runners at first and second here in the second inning. The bleeding continues as Prado

May 17, 2014; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers right fielder Yasiel Puig (66) reacts after getting called out in the sixth inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports

pulls one through the hole past Uribe, and it’s 7-0. The final out of the inning finally comes as Marte grounds into a force out.

Clayton Kershaw only made it through 1 2/3 innings while allowing 7 runs on 6 hits with 3 strikeouts and 2 walks on 50 pitches.

Jamey Wright leads off the top of the third, and his line drive goes right into the glove of Prado of course. Dee Gordon draws a walk. Then Yasiel Puig’s beautiful swing makes me feel a bit better after he hits a humongous two-run homerun to left center field. Puig’s hitting streak is extended to 16 games. 7-2.

Pennington singles to lead-off the home half of the third. Tuffy singles to right field, and that’s Arizona’s ninth hit of the game. Anderson sacrifices into a force out, and A.J. Pollock ends the inning with a double play.

The Dodgers go down 1-2-3 in the top of the fourth.

The D-backs pour some more fuel on the fire in the bottom of the fourth. Chris Owings homers to lead-off, and the same guy who caught Puig’s homerun ends up catching Owings’ long ball as well, but he doesn’t throw this one back. Wright walks Goldy. Cody Ross singles. Prado grounds into a force out, but a run scores, 9-2.

In the fifth, A.J. Ellis doubles off Pollock’s glove to lead-off. A wild pitch by Anderson allows A.J. to take third. The Dodgers end up stranding Ellis at third as Puig strikes out this time against the rookie Anderson.

Brandon League is in for the bottom of the fifth. He only allows a single to A.J. Pollock.

Adrian Gonzalez singles with one out in the sixth followed by a double from Matt Kemp. Apparently Carl Crawford doesn’t think this game is over yet as he hits a three-run homerun to right field! The D-backs left in Anderson for one pitch too long, and they paid. It’s still 9-5 Snakes, but Arizona will now have to go to their bullpen as Evan Marshall comes into the game. Uribe promptly singles to right field. A.J. Ellis reaches on a fielding error by Marte who tries to make a one-hand catch but drops the ball allowing Uribe to reach third and Ellis to make it to second. Pinch-hitter Andre Ethier comes up clutch with a double to left field, and two runs score! It’s suddenly a two-run game, 9-7. Gordon flies out. Puig grounds into a force out, but the play is very close at first base prompting a challenge from Don Mattingly. Unfortunately the replay showed that he was in fact out, and the call stands. The Dodgers end up hanging up a high five in the inning and put themselves right back into the game.

May 17, 2014; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Chase Anderson (57) throws in the first inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports

Chase Anderson pitched 5 1/3 innings and allowed 5 runs on 7 hits with 3 strikeouts and 2 walks on 95 pitches.

The Dodgers bullpen continues to do what it does best…allow runs. Chris Withrow serves up a lead-off double to Goldy in the bottom of the sixth. He strikes out Ross, but then in his usual consistently inconsistent way, allows a double to Prado which brings in the tenth Arizona run of the night. Para pops out to Gonzo. Pennington strikes out.

Hanley leads off the seventh with a single, and the D-backs go to their bullpen again. Joe Thatcher becomes their third arm of the night. Gonzo flares a soft single to shallow left. Matt Kemp just missed it, but HanRam tags up on the fly ball to center. Crawford strikes out, and the question is whether Mattingly should have used Scott Van Slyke there to face the lefty. Kirk Gibson will now bring in Brad Ziegler to face Uribe. Uribe strikes out, and the Dodgers waste the back-to-back singles.

The D-backs pour on more misery in the bottom of the seventh after Paul Goldschmidt hits a three-run homerun off Chris Withrow. Chris Perez comes in and allows more carnage. He walks Prado and allows a RBI double to Parra, 14-7.

Justin Turner, who was DonnieSwitched™ into the game in the previous inning, doubles with one out in the top of the eighth against Ziegler. The Dodgers can’t do much else as Puig strikes out for the third time of the night to end the inning.

Eric Chavez continues the onslaught by the Snakes in the bottom of the eighth by hitting solo homerun off the ineffective Perez. Then A.J. Pollock joins the homerun parade, and he proceeds to also hit a solo homerun. 16-7. Mattingly will embarrassingly have to bring in Drew Butera, the back-up catcher, to pitch again. Owings doubles off the right field wall. Goldschmidt then hits his second homerun of the night, a two-run shot to left.

Addison Reed will pitch the top of the ninth for Arizona. Ramirez pops out. Gonzo flies out. Kemp hits a meaningless single, but Crawford strikes out to end the crushing loss.

The torture finally ends.

The Dodgers fall to 23-21. Tomorrow afternoon the series finale will feature Dan Haren versus Josh Collmenter.