Dodgers rally in eighth to beat Diamondbacks, 5-3

Wild, scary, a bit on the crazy side, yet ultimately for the Dodgers, maybe their sweetest victory of the season.

After an old-fashioned baseball brawl in the seventh that led to five ejections and plenty of heated Dodgers, the Diamondbacks came back to take a one-run lead in the eighth.

But in the bottom of the eighth, catcher Tim Federowicz delivered one of the biggest hits of the season, driving a bases-clearing double off the left field wall to lift the Dodgers to a 5-3 victory.

After rookie sensation Yasiel Puig was hit on the nose by an Ian Kennedy pitch in the sixth, Zack Greinke hit Miguel Montero, the first batter he faced, in the back during the bottom half of the inning.

Benches emptied then, but there were no incidents.

Not so when Kennedy hit Greinke with a pitch in his left shoulder in the seventh. Then it was baseball chaos, angry Dodgers almost storming the Diamondbacks.

There were punches thrown and scrums all over. Ronald Belisario and Puig both appeared to throw punches. Manager Don Mattingly wrestled Arizona coach Alan Trammell to the ground. Diamondbacks coach Turner Ward was pounded and driven into a railing. Dodgers angry hitting coach Mark McGwire got in the face of Arizona Manager Kirk Gibson and was pulled away by Diamondbacks third base coach Matt Williams and then they exchanged angry words.

When it was finally over, and it took a long time for the umpires to gain control, in addition to the automatic ejects of Kennedy and Gibson, also tossed were Puig, McGwire and Ward.

The Dodgers were fired up but had to feel plenty deflated when the Diamondbacks broke open the 2-2 game with a run-scoring single by Willie Bloomquist in the top of the eighth.

But in the bottom of the eighth — a Dodgers team that was 0 for 25 in games it trailed after the seventh — rallied big time in the bottom of the eighth.

Arizona reliever David Hernandez walked the bases loaded with one out for Federowicz. Hernandez’ first pitch was a 95 mph fastball Federowicz drilled off the left field wall, and all three runners scored.

An energized Dodgers bench erupted.

Kenley Jansen, the newly installed closer, shut the Diamondbacks down in order in the ninth to secure the emotional victory.