Dodgers vs. Diamondbacks Game 3: Live score updates and highlights from 2017 NLDS

The Los Angeles Dodgers look to sweep the Arizona Diamondbacks out of the postseason in Game 3 of the NLDS, but they’ll have to beat an old friend, Zack Greinke, in Chase Field, where the Dodgers had a losing record this year.

Yu Darvish will take the mound for the Dodgers, and he’ll have to justify his existence NO PRESSURE, as the Dodgers look to go to their third NLCS in the last five years. Follow along with our live blog. I have thoughts! Important thoughts.

As usual, if you want to read from the beginning, scroll down to the “1st inning” header and work your way back up. Or just start with us at 10:00 p.m. ET, refresh constantly and you’ll never be lost.

Look, it was an intense inning with Kenley Jansen facing Paul Goldschmidt representing the tying run. He struck out Goldschmidt, with J.D. Martinez on deck.

But all I could think about was this tweet:

Damn. I mean, damn.

(Please read my recap, which tells you about 57 percent of what you need to know.)

We have a new wrinkle. Kenta Maeda, setup man.

I really, really want an alternate reality machine that shows me what different starting pitchers would do if they were transported into the world of late-inning relief. The Diamondbacks’ Archie Bradley is a perfect example. He was stalled as a prospect, and then he was put in the bullpen, and guess what? He’s incredible now. No idea how you’re supposed to hit that guy.

What would Lance Lynn do as a closer?

What would Johnny Cueto do?

Bartolo Colon?

All of them! I want to watch all of them for a full season and see how they respond. We will never get this gift, but I can still warm my heart thinking about it.

This comes up because of Maeda, who struck out the first batter he faced with a flourish. He then he induced a calm grounder before striking out the last batter he faced with an extreme flourish. He likes the late innings. It suits him. He gets to be demonstrative and shake his fist, and he is very much into that.

The Diamondbacks have three outs left in their season, and they’ll face Kenley Jansen. Good luck with that.

I didn’t watch much of the seventh inning. I was watching the Star Wars trailer, and I saved this picture to use for a joke, but then I didn’t have the context for a joke, so here’s the picture:

ha ha look at that little guy

Austin Barnes hit a home run to extend the Dodgers’ lead to 3-1, so let’s talk a little about Austin Barnes. He’s a catcher-second baseman hybrid, which is obnoxious. Either you play catcher, or you’re a first baseman on your day off. You don’t get to float around the left side of the defensive spectrum. It’s pretty much like Kevin Kiermaier being a lights-out reliever. That’s just obnoxious.

Then you get to the part where Barnes is pretty good. He had a .408 OBP in 262 plate appearances this year, with eight homers. He can also run a little bit. He would start at either catcher or second for a lot of teams in the league.

Then focus on the idea that he wasn’t a Dodgers property to begin with. He was acquired from the Marlins in the Dee Gordon trade, a classic example of the Dodgers making a rebuilding-style trade to reinforce their minor- and major-league depth.

Anyway, Barnes is good, and now the Dodgers have a 3-1 lead. The Dodgers are rich and grabby, but don’t overlook their ability to steal valuable players away in the right deal. It’ll keep them relevant for a long, long time.

However, there is more drama. After pretending that he got hit with a pitch to the hands (that really hit the knob of the bat), Christian Walker avoided certain death by the hair of his helmy-helm helmet.

Walker was okay, and he felt well enough to take his base at first, mercifully. Darvish would leave the game, having thrown just 74 pitches. The next batter, David Peralta, immediately grounded into a rally-killing double play, so now we get to focus on Austin Barnes some more.

Seriously, a catcher-second baseman utility hybrid, get the f

Clay Bellinger is strong, and his swing is silly-quick. His solo home run — on a pitch on the edge of the strike zone, to the opposite field — gave the Dodgers a 2-0 lead, and it will probably give Zack Greinke the twitches when he closes his eyes at night.

Left-handers shouldn’t hit pitches like that with such authority. It’s against the rules.

The home run was important because it extended the Dodgers’ lead, of course, but also because Greinke had found a rhythm. He was rolling, at least relative to the first three innings.

Someone else who was rolling: Yu Darvish. He’s up to seven strikeouts in five innings with nary a walk, but his second hit was a long one. Daniel Descalso — one of Redwood City’s greatest sons, but certainly not its greatest — hit an unlikely dinger to get the Diamondbacks within a run again. It came on a hanging slider, which you might expect. That doesn’t mean that it’s normal that Daniel Freaking Descalso hit a crucial home run in an elimination game. His OPS+ this year was nope, after all.

The inning ended with a CORY BELLINGER CATCH HOLY CRAP WAIT WAIT WAIT, but I’ll have to wait for media to explore that idea further, but I’m thinking about going with CORY BELLINGER CATCH HOLY CRAP WAIT WAIT WAIT WHAT for a headline.

Edit: Here’s the full scoop on Bellinger, who is pretty good at his job.

I regret to inform the Diamondbacks that Holy Crap Yu Darvish has made an appearance.

Zack Greinke has walked five batters for the first time since 2014 — and just the ninth time in his career — and he’s labored through four innings, but Darvish is mowing batters down. He struck out the side in the fourth, and he’s looking absolutely dominant. That’s six strikeouts and just one hit in four innings for him.

If you want another way to put it, this outdated tweet will help you out.

Greinke’s top of the fourth was a quick, efficient inning, but the overall point still stands. Darvish isn’t laboring. He’s mowing. Greinke isn’t mowing. He’s laboring. And yet the Diamondbacks are just a J.D. Martinez home run away from tying the game, and guess what? It’s J.D. Martinez home run o’clock, because it always is. So the Dodgers can’t feel entirely comfortable.

Considering how well Darvish is pitching, though, they can feel a little comfortable. Maybe even a lot comfortable.

There was action in the top-half of the inning, with the Dodgers rallying, and although nothing came of it, there might be some consequences later.

Corey Seager walked with one out, and Justin Turner followed with a sharp single, but Cody Bellinger popped a hanging breaking ball into shallow left for two outs. After a walk to a ~~very animated~~ Yasiel Puig, who shiffle-shuffled his feet when he took the third pitch, Austin Barnes grounded out to end the inning.

Told you.

The consequences are still possible, though, as Greinke has thrown 71 pitches in three innings. Even by the standards of the pull-your-starter-early postseason of 2017, this is an unsustainable pace. Look for a reliever soon.

At the same time, the Diamondbacks are most certainly still in the game, mostly because the Dodgers are 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position. They’re coming close, but they aren’t putting the game away.

Here is your update for the second inning:

It doesn’t matter who did what, apart from Yu Darvish mowing down the side convincingly in the bottom half of the inning. The Dodgers got him for a reason and, well, this is it. The old template was Kershaw and lesser pitchers, with extra Kershaw if needed. The new template is a couple of star pitchers, which includes Darvish.

The Dodgers have tried this before. The last time they tried it was when they had Zack Greinke. So you can see how everything has come full circle, even if I’ve never really understood what that saying means.

lol

The Dodgers are looking to sweep, which means the Diamondbacks are looking for any possible reason for their fans to experience the tangy, sweet taste of hope. Which means they probably were hoping to keep the Dodgers off the board in the first inning, more so than usual.

Well, shoot.

The Dodgers scored the game’s first run. Chris Taylor led the game off with a double, and after a Corey Seager walk, Cody Bellinger grounded softly enough to first to allow the first run to score. The outs that Greinke got (other than Bellinger) were struck pretty well, too. Not ideal, but it could be worse.

Not Ideal, But It Could Be Worse: The Fernando Rodney Story

Yes, in theaters everywhere soon. The Diamondbacks tried to start a little rally in their half of the inning, with Ketel Marte dropping an absolutely gorgeous drag bunt down for a single, but the middle of the order couldn’t do much, as both Paul Goldschmidt and J.D. Martinez made quiet outs.

The Dodgers are up, 1-0, and they can smell the NLCS. It smells like Dodger Dogs left in a hot car. I don’t know why. Please don’t smell the NLCS.