Diamondbacks Ride Back-to-Back Homers to Victory over Dodgers

Corbin Carroll of the Diamondbacks congratulating teammate Evan Longoria after his home run against the Dodgers. Carroll was right about to hit a home run himself.

Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images

April 8, 2023

Diamondbacks 6, Dodgers 3

PHOENIX, Apr. 7 — Evan Longoria and Corbin Carroll hit back-to-back home runs off Clayton Kershaw to give the Arizona Diamondbacks a lead they never relinquished as they downed the Los Angeles Dodgers, 6–3, Friday night in Phoenix.

Longoria went 3-for-3 with a walk, a double, an RBI, and two runs scored in addition to the homer. Carroll and Gabriel Moreno added two hits apiece in the victory. James Outman and Chris Taylor had solo home runs for the Dodgers in the loss.

Dodgers, Diamondbacks Trade Blows Early

Dodgers left fielder Mookie Betts led off the game with a double to left-center off Diamondbacks lefty Madison Bumgarner. After advancing to third on a passed ball, he scored the unearned run two batters later on a sacrifice fly by designated hitter J.D. Martinez. The Diamondbacks got the run back in the bottom half after second baseman Ketel Marte and designated hitter Kyle Lewis led off with a double to left-center and infield single to first, respectively. With runners on the corners, left fielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. scored Marte and advanced Lewis to second on an unassisted groundout to first.

The Dodgers scored again in the top of the second on a leadoff homer to right by left fielder James Outman. Shortstop Chris Taylor and catcher Austin Barnes struck out and flied to center, respectively, but Betts kept the inning alive with a walk. A hard-hit ball by Freeman glanced off Marte’s glove and bounded into shallow center. Shortstop Nick Ahmed had to chase the ball as it rolled back to where he started the play, allowing Betts to reach third. But a J.D. Martinez strikeout ended the threat and kept the score 2–1.

Seesaw Continues, but Diamondbacks Get Last Laugh

The Diamondbacks tied it up again in the bottom of the third. A one-out Gurriel walk and single to right by Longoria, the third baseman, put runners on the corners. Two batters later, Carroll legged out a two-out infield single to second, bringing in Gurriel. The game did not remain tied for long, however, as Taylor led off the fourth with a homer to left, making the score 3–2.

Bumgarner survived into the fifth, grinding his way through the second out before giving way to Drey Jameson with the bases loaded and Taylor at the plate. Jameson took four pitches to retire Taylor on a grounder to short and strand the runners. Kershaw, meanwhile, made it through five while only allowing the two runs. He was three outs from a quality start when Longoria and Carroll launched their back-to-back homers.

Jameson and the other Diamondback relievers — Miguel Castro and lefty Andrew Chafin — combined for 4 1/3 of scoreless, hitless relief. Each allowed one baserunner, doing so via walks. Dodger relievers Brusdar Graterol and Shelby Miller pitched scoreless relief without allowing any baserunners. They sandwiched their appearances around Yency Almonte, who gave up two runs on three hits in 2/3 of an inning. These runs came in the eighth, starting with a one-out Longoria double to left. He advanced to third on a Carroll grounder to second and scored on a dribbler up the third-base line by shortstop Nick Ahmed. Muncy’s only chance to retire Ahmed was a do-or-die barehanded grab-and-fire, but the ball clanked off Muncy’s hand. After Ahmed stole second, catcher Gabriel Moreno plated him with a double to right. This rounded out the scoring at 6–3.

Postgame Reflections

“Today was the type of game I’ve been waiting for,” manager Torey Lovullo beamed. “These guys have been working their tails off offensively. You could see we had a great all-field approach. Timely hitting. We built innings, we capitalized —it was a lot of fun.”

Later he added, “We fell down early but kept fighting and grinding. Got back into the game. Then the back-to-back home runs, obviously, were a big part of the day. They gave us a lead, and our bullpen was lights out.”

Quick Hits

Kershaw owns the Diamondbacks at Dodger Stadium, where he is 12–1 in his career. But at Chase Field, he is 8–10 despite a .229 opponent batting average and 1.157 WHIP. This is largely due to allowing 16 home runs, third of all ballparks behind Coors Field in Denver (21 in 26 starts) and, of course, Dodger Stadium (112 in 206 starts).

Castro left the field to a raucous ovation from the Diamondbacks crowd. He gave way to Chafin, who pitched to three hitters to get the final two outs. Castro and Chafin have combined for seven innings of scoreless relief over the first seven games.

Looking Ahead

The Diamondbacks and Dodgers meet again Saturday evening at 5:10. Diamondbacks right-hander Zach Davies will face Dodgers righty Noah Syndergaard. Both pitched effectively in their previous outings, when they faced each other at Dodger Stadium and left with no-decisions.