Dodgers cruise past Arizona
Less than 24 hours earlier, Kirk Gibson had marched into the Arizona Diamondbacks’ clubhouse and shouted a celebratory expletive.
But here Gibson was on Saturday, looking out on the field from the dugout, the reality in front of him unavoidable.
The team that the former Dodgers outfielder had inherited to manage was awful. Really, really awful.
The Dodgers avenged their defeat of the previous night by claiming a 14-1 victory over the last-place Diamondbacks at Chase Field.
If Gibson cursed in the clubhouse after the game, it wasn’t in celebration. The Diamondbacks didn’t score until the ninth inning, when Mark Reynolds hit a home run against closer Jonathan Broxton, who hadn’t pitched in six days.
The Dodgers scored six runs in the second inning and not a single one was earned, including the one they scored on Matt Kemp’s solo home run to cap the surge. The same was true of the run they scored in the third inning to increase their lead to 7-0.
The only earned runs charged to Diamondbacks starter Rodrigo Lopez came in the fourth inning, when Rafael Furcal hit a solo home run and Andre Ethier blasted another.
The Diamondbacks made six errors, including two in the second inning and three in the third.
Former Dodgers prospect Tony Abreu, who was essentially sold to the Diamondbacks last season, committed three errors. (The Dodgers agreed to send the once highly regarded Abreu in a deal for Jon Garland because the Diamondbacks agreed to pay the remainder of Garland’s salary.)
The Dodgers scored three runs in the sixth inning, as restoration project Dontrelle Willis entered the game and promptly gave up singles to Ethier and James Loney, then hit Casey Blake with a pitch. Two runs scored on a single by Xavier Paul and another on a sacrifice fly by Russell Martin.
But the Dodgers were in no position to point and laugh.
With one out in the Dodgers’ six-run second inning, Furcal drove a ball over the head of center fielder Chris Young, who got under the ball with his back to the plate, only for the ball to hit his glove and pop out. Young wasn’t charged with an error on the play.
Clayton Kershaw, who was on first base, was evidently unaware of Young’s mishap and reversed course after rounding second base. On his way back to first base, Kershaw passed Furcal, resulting in Furcal’s being called out.
An inning later, Paul hit a grounder to first baseman Rusty Ryal, who tossed the ball to a vacant bag. Paul was safe, but only initially. On his walk back to first base, Paul stepped into fair territory and was tagged out.
Paul walked in the second inning to load the bases, but did so after taking only three balls.
Plate umpire Bruce Dreckman didn’t notice. Gibson didn’t either, or, if he did, decided to remain quiet about it.
Kershaw improved to 8-4, as he held the Diamondbacks scoreless over 52/3 innings. He gave up four hits and struck out eight.
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