Beimel gets a left-handed compliment

PHOENIX -- Joe Beimel’s record-setting appearance Sunday became a memorable one when he induced an inning-ending groundout with the bases loaded in the sixth inning.

The game was Beimel’s 81st of the season, the most by any left-hander in Dodgers’ history, besting the mark of 80 set by Tom Martin in 2003.

Said Beimel: “It’s something that’s pretty cool in an organization with a history like this one.”

Beimel said he couldn’t explain his durability, but said it might be related to his off-season weight-training program.

He said he reported to spring training weighing around 220 pounds, of which he has shed nearly 20 over the course of the season.

“I don’t work out that much during the season,” he said. “It’s kind of a gradual deteriorating process.”

He said he has also left his nights in out-of-town bars behind him.

Beimel said he hasn’t had a drink since Oct. 2 of last year, the day he cut his pitching hand in a New York bar. The accident caused him to miss the Dodgers’ playoff series with the Mets.

To aid the process, his wife, Emily, also quit drinking.

“If you look at what I had going here in a good organization, I didn’t want to do anything to jeopardize that,” he said. “I didn’t feel it was worth it.”

Beimel said he felt particularly grateful when General Manager Ned Colletti checked up on him in the off-season.

“A lot of general managers wouldn’t care,” he said. “They see you as a number.”

Tony Abreu strained a muscle in his right hip lunging for a grounder in the fifth inning and had to be replaced by Wilson Valdez in the sixth.

Trainer Stan Conte said the injury was related to the abdominal strain Abreu suffered in July and that the infielder would undergo in an MRI exam in the next couple of days.

The series in Arizona marked a homecoming for Andre Ethier, who grew up in Phoenix and went to Arizona State.

Ethier spent the nights in nearby Chandler, where he and his wife make their off-season home. With his wife’s family also being from Phoenix, Ethier estimated that he had 60 friends and relatives at each of the three games.

Ethier admitted that he grew up hating the Dodgers, as he was a fan of the Giants’ triple-A affiliate in Phoenix. His family had Diamondbacks season tickets from the team’s inaugural season until last year.

Ethier said he was in the upper deck at Chase Field for the Diamondbacks’ Game 6 victory over the New York Yankees in the 2001 World Series.

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dylan.hernandez@latimes.com