Dodgers learn their lesson

PHOENIX -- The situation that Matt Kemp faced on Sunday was strikingly similar to the one he faced the previous night: ninth inning, two out, Dodgers down by one run, Brandon Lyon on the mound.

On Saturday, Kemp swung at the first pitch he saw and flied out to right to end the game. This time, he knew better.

He took the first pitch.

His at-bat lasted eight pitches, the last of which he crushed into the gap in left-center, scoring newly signed pinch-runner Pablo Ozuna from first to erase the final remnants of a three-run deficit to start the inning and sending the Dodgers to a 6-5 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field. The Dodgers’ second win of the three-game series earned them a share of first place in the National League West with the Diamondbacks and moved them to within two games of .500 at 48-50.

Kemp’s double, which drove in the third run of a five-run inning and tied the score at 4-4, was the product of a lesson learned the previous night.

“His ball runs in a lot,” Kemp said. “I just knew going into this last at-bat to not be too aggressive. I tried to put the bat on the ball.”

Manager Joe Torre said he was pleased, noting that progress wasn’t being made by Kemp alone. The Dodgers who start a three-game series today in Colorado aren’t the same Dodgers who routinely folded when they faced an ace-caliber pitcher in a rhythm.

That was the situation they faced on Saturday, when they were held without a run over seven innings by Dan Haren but tagged Lyon for a pair of runs in the ninth and nearly erased a three-run deficit.

And that was the situation they faced Sunday, as they managed to score only one run against Brandon Webb over the first eight innings.

To Torre, the late-inning surges were indications that something he has said from the start of spring training is sinking in: “Play nine innings. You never know what’s going to happen.”

“Our confidence is a lot higher,” Dodgers pitcher Derek Lowe said. “I don’t think we feel like once we get down, we’re like, ‘Hey, that’s it. We’ll get them tomorrow.’ Twenty-seven outs is a long way. Even though Webb got 24 of them, there are still three to go.”

Lowe wasn’t at his best. Pitching for the first time in 10 days, he said he couldn’t locate any of his pitches other than his curveball. The Diamondbacks made him pay, scoring three runs in the first and adding another in the sixth that extended their lead to 4-0.

The Dodgers took a run back in the seventh. James Loney doubled and scored when Blake DeWitt grounded into a fielder’s choice.

That set the stage for the ninth, which Nomar Garciaparra started by doubling to right-center against Lyon. He moved to third on a single by Loney and scored on a potential double-play ball that was bobbled by shortstop Stephen Drew, who had to settle for throwing Andruw Jones out at first.

After DeWitt grounded out, pinch-hitter Andy LaRoche singled in Loney from second and was replaced on the basepaths by Ozuna, who was signed earlier in the day.

Kemp doubled, Andre Ethier tripled, Russell Martin singled and the Dodgers were ahead 6-4.

Lyon said his command was off, but that the Dodgers didn’t give him any outs, another point Torre and his coaches have stressed.

“I fell behind and had to throw strikes and they did a good job of battling and making me make a mistake and hit the ball hard,” said Lyon, who was booed by his home crowd upon being removed from the game after Ethier’s triple.

With the three games in the series decided by one run, including an 8-7, 11-inning victory for the Dodgers on Friday, Torre noted how evenly the NL West front-runners are matched.

“It didn’t really matter what the result was today, I think both of these teams understand that when we play each other, there’s no clear-cut winner,” he said. “It’s going to be who plays better that particular day.”

--

dylan.hernandez@latimes.com