Arizona Diamondbacks chop Alex Wood down to size in Dodgers’ 12-4 loss

Six days after delivering his finest performance in a Dodgers uniform, Alex Wood made the worst start of his career.

Wood was anything but the workhorse he said he would be for Manager Don Mattingly, exiting only 12/3 innings into a 12-4 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday at Chase Field.

Concerns about the Dodgers’ rotation depth resurfaced as Wood was battered and bruised for eight hits and eight runs, six of which were earned.

Mattingly has made no secret that he considers Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke and Brett Anderson to be his top three starting pitchers. The Dodgers, who hold a 71/2-game lead over the San Francisco Giants in the National League West, could start them and no one else in a best-of-five, first-round playoff series.

But if they advance to the best-of-seven NL Championship Series and are required to use a fourth starter, to whom would they turn?

His Friday start notwithstanding, Wood (10-10) is almost certainly first in line.

Mattingly said he was confident Wood would recover.

“I think he’s been around long enough to bounce back,” the manager said.

Entering this game, Wood was 3-3 with a 3.43 earned-run average in seven starts with the Dodgers.

“He’s really been pitching pretty solidly for us,” Mattingly said. “Tonight just wasn’t his night.”

Wood said he shared his manager’s view.

“It’s pretty much all you can do,” he said.

Wood sighed.

“I hadn’t had one of those in a pretty long time,” he said.

The start was the antithesis of the game Wood pitched Aug. 5, when he limited the San Diego Padres to three hits over seven scoreless innings at Petco Park.

“It’s a cruel game,” Wood said.

A.J. Pollock led off the bottom of the first inning with a single to left. Paul Goldschmidt drew a one-out walk. The cleanup hitter, Welington Castillo, blasted a three-run home run.

Four batters into the game, the Dodgers were down, 3-0.

Castillo’s home run was followed by a single by Phil Gosselin, which in turn was followed by a run-scoring triple by Chris Owings.

By the time the inning was over, Wood had thrown 34 pitches.

There was no improvement in the second. A one-out single by Ender Inciarte set up a two-run home run by Goldschmidt that increased the Diamondbacks’ lead to 6-0.

Gosselin reached base on a two-out error, Owings singled and Wood’s night was over.

The bullpen failed to provide instant relief, with Pedro Baez serving up a two-run double to Yasmany Tomas and a two-run home run to Nick Ahmed.

The Dodgers’ deficit now stood at 10-0.

Including Baez, the Dodgers used five relievers. The most notable contribution was made by left-hander Ian Thomas, who pitched three innings and allowed one run.

Meanwhile, the Dodgers failed to manufacture much offense. Arizona starter Robbie Ray (4-11) pitched only five innings but limited them to two hits — a pinch-hit single by Alex Guerrero in the third inning and a single to left in the fourth by rookie Corey Seager.

If that wasn’t dispiriting enough, Guerrero strained his left calf on his single and was removed from the game shortly after reaching base.

The Dodgers didn’t score until there were two outs in ninth inning, when Justin Ruggiano launched the first grand slam of his career. In only six games as a Dodger, Ruggiano has three home runs and 10 runs batted in.

Up next

Right-hander Mike Bolsinger (6-3, 2.97 ERA) will face right-hander Rubby De La Rosa (12-7, 4.49) and the Diamondbacks on Saturday at 5 p.m. PDT at Chase Field. TV: SportsNet LA; Radio: 570, 1020.

dylan.hernandez@latimes.com

Twitter: @dylanohernandez