There Was Blood: Dodgers Drop Series to Snakes

Clayton Kershaw‘s kryptonite: Chase Field and the Cardinals in the postseason. Kershaw had a really rough night in his second start and his first loss of the year. What was even more concerning was the lack of offense from the Dodger lineup which consisted of TWO HITS all night. Those TWO HITS were a double from Howie Kendrick and a Adrian Gonzalez single.

Don Mattingly shook up the lineup a bit on Saturday. Yasiel Puig, who is 2-for-17 so far on the season was sitting in favor of Andre Ethier who got his first start of the season in right field. Juan Uribe, who has also been struggling at the plate during these first two series, was on the bench as well with Justin Turner starting at third base.

Dodgers 0 2 1

Diamondbacks 6 10 0

WP- Bradley (1-0)

LP- Kershaw (0-1)

HR- Goldschmidt (2)

Archie Bradley, the rookie right-hander for the Snakes, had no trouble retiring the Dodgers in order in the top of the first inning. He even struck out Adrian Gonzalez to finish up the frame. Bradley was throwing so nice and easy with confidence during his major league debut. Bradley was definitively the player of the game, and he deservedly picked up his first major league win.

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A.J. Pollock was on base four times with 3 hits and a walk, and Paul Goldschmidt drove in 3 runs for the Snakes.

The epic Clayton Kershaw Chase Field meltdown was almost exactly a year ago (May 17, 2014), and perhaps that was in the back of his mind a little. The D-backs jumped ahead 1-0 in the first inning after scoring early on a leadoff single by A.J. Pollock, a bunt single by Ender Inciarte which Justin Turner couldn’t get to in time and a RBI single by Mark Trumbo.

Apr 11, 2015; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Archie Bradley (25) pitches against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Bradley definitely got initiated into the majors in the second inning when he stopped a ball hit by Howie Kendrick with his buttocks. After pitching another scoreless frame in the second, Bradley picked up his first career base hit, a two-out single to left field, in the bottom half of the inning. Kershaw did not want Bradley to relish in it too much, and Kersh promptly picked off the rookie to end the inning.

Archie Bradley continued to impress even though he had to make his major debut against the best pitcher on the planet. Bradley only allowed 2 walks (Andre Ethier and Clayton Kershaw) and no hits over the first three innings.

Clayton Kershaw allowed consecutive singles to A.J. Pollock and Inciarte to start off the third inning, and the D-backs continue to play aggressively and even pull off the double steal with Paul Goldschmidt at the plate. A.J. Ellis made a throw to third, but Justin Turner couldn’t hold on to the ball and drew the error.

Then there was blood.

Justin Turner was spiked on his left hand by Pollock when he slid into third, and he had to come out of the game. Juan Uribe took over at third, and of course the first play thereafter is a grounder to third hit by Goldy. Uribe is able to pull off the throw, but Uribe was seen grimacing and holding his hamstring (he’s listed as day-to-day with hamstring tightness). A run came in as this disaster unfolded. 2-0 D-backs.

The Dodgers finally got their first hit of the game off Bradley in the top of the fourth. Adrian Gonzalez drew a one-out walk, and Howie Kendrick dunked a double to center field.

After the Dodgers lost two third baseman in a half inning, Alex Guerrero came in to take over for Uribe who couldn’t even bat in the bottom of the fourth. The Dodgers ended up stranding the two runners at second and third after Ethier struck out and Guerrero grounded out.

The D-backs loaded the bases up against Kershaw in the bottom of the fourth, and they notched two more runs on an Pollack RBI single and an Inciarte groundout. 4-0 D-backs.

Apr 11, 2015; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw (22) pitches during the first inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Archie Bradley pitched 6 innings and allowed just one hit with 6 strikeouts and 4 walks on 112 pitches.

Kershaw, looking frustrated with himself, came back to pitch two 1-2-3 innings in the fifth and sixth. Even though Kershaw’s start was really frustrating, the Dodgers offense only mustered ONE hit against rookie Bradley through six innings.

The Arizona bullpen took over in the seventh, and sidearm pitcher Brad Ziegler retired the side in order in the seventh and eighth innings. There was a challenged play on a ground out by Alex Guerrero in the seventh. The call was overturned, and Guerrero was clearly out on the replay.

The wheels came off completely for Kershaw in the seventh. May 17, 2014 redux. Paul Goldschmidt once again terrorized the Dodgers and hit a humongous two-run homerun giving the D-backs a commanding 6-0 lead. Juan Nicasio took over for the battered ace. The Dodgers also brought in their fourth third baseman of the night in the DonnieSwitch™: Darwin Barney.

Clayton Kershaw pitched 6 1/3 innings and allowed 6 runs on 10 hits with 5 strikeouts and 3 walks on 99 pitches.

The Dodgers finally got a second hit in the top of the ninth inning when Adrian Gonzalez singled off Randall Delgado, but unfortunately that was the peak of their offense for the night.

Silver lining: Juan Nicasio pitched well.

The Dodgers fall to 2-3 on the season. Sunday they will be trying to stave off the three-game sweep as Zack Greinke takes the mound for his second start of the season.