The Los Angeles Dodgers limped into the postseason, winning just 104 games like a bunch of jerks instead of 114. They’ve stormed their way into a fast October start, though, taking the first two games of the National League Division Series against the Arizona Diamondbacks, following an 8-5 win in Game 2.
Dodgers down Diamondbacks, open up 2-0 NLDS lead
The Dodgers won 8-5 behind clutch hits and wild Diamondbacks pitching.
Photo by Harry How/Getty Images
The Dodgers just might be the team they were in the first five months of the season, everyone.
The Diamondbacks started the scoring in the first inning, with Paul Goldschmidt hitting a home run that burst into flames and ascended to heaven, where it will play with other baseballs in a large, grassy field. We’ll miss you, baseball.
Cripes.
Alas, two runs were not enough to stop the Dodgers, who answered back with a run in the second and two runs in the third inning.
It was the third inning that put the Dodgers up for good. Enrique Hernandez and Logan Forsythe quickly hit singles off Diamondbacks starter Robbie Ray, who finished with four walks, four hits allowed, four runs, and four earned runs in 4⅓ innings pitched, and Yasiel Puig followed with a single to load the bases.
It wasn’t just any single. It was a bloop single. And Puig was into it.
Ha ha, I want to be mad, but I can’t. It’s perfect, and baseball needs more of it.
A wild pitch from Ray and an infield single from Chris Taylor gave the Dodgers their first lead, and it was a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. They added four runs in the fifth after Justin Turner was hit by a pitch to start the inning, and a parade of well-timed singles followed.
The Diamondbacks made an uninteresting game interesting when Brandon Drury hit a three-run homer off Brandon Morrow to cut the lead to 8-5, but all that did was give Kenley Jansen a chance for another postseason save. He came in and recorded a 1⅔-inning save, squashing any momentum the Diamondbacks might have had.
The Dodgers are a win away from their second consecutive NLCS appearance and their third in the last five seasons. Yu Darvish will make his postseason debut for the Dodgers on Monday against Zack Greinke.
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