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Dodgers beat the Diamondbacks 3-1 to advance to the NLCS

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The Dodgers defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks 3-1 in Phoenix in Game 3 of a National League division series.

The Dodgers will face the winner of the Chicago Cubs-Washington National division series. The Cubs lead the Nationals two games to one.

L.A. will host Game 1 of the seven-game series on Saturday.

Somebody guard the pool! Dodgers are headed to the NLCS

It’s closing time, time for Kenley Jansen.

Gregor Blanco, pinch-hitting in the pitcher’s spot, strikes out on four pitches.

David Peralta grounds a single just past the diving Corey Seager.

Ketel Marte grounds back to Jansen. Peralta takes second base.

One out away.

Standing in the way of Dodgers’ appearance in National League Championship Series: MVP candidate Paul Goldschmidt.

It’s power vs. power.

Goldschmidt in his career against Jansen: four for 20 with one run batted in.

Goldschmidt has one home run already in the series. He had 36 during the regular season.

With the count 2-2, Goldschmidt fouls off a couple of tough pitches, then holds up with a check swing on a cutter.

Full count.

And Jansen strikes him out with another cutter.

Dodgers are headed to the NLCS.

Somebody guard the pool!

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Potential insurance run is thrown out at the plate in top of 9th

Archie Bradley, the Diamondbacks’ top reliever, starts his third inning of work.

Chris Taylor flies out to center field.

Corey Seager flies out to right field.

Justin Turner singles to center field, and that will be all for Bradley.

Left-hander Andrew Chafin, normally a starter, is on to pitch to the left-handed-hitting Cody Bellinger.

So Arizona manager Torey Lovullo wasn’t kidding when he said it was all pitching hands on deck for this one.

Bellinger dumps a hit just inside the left-field line in shallow left field. David Peralta makes a sliding try at a great catch, but the ball falls just off the end of his glove. However, Peralta recovers to make a strong throw to home plate, cutting down Turner trying to score all the way from first.

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Maeda sets Diamondbacks down in order; Dodgers are three outs away

Kenta Maeda, who was dominant in his Game 2 appearance, is now pitching for the Dodgers.

Maeda struck out A.J. Pollock in that Saturday game, and he strikes him out leading off this inning.

With Tony Watson and Kenley Jansen up in the bullpen, Maeda is left in to face left-handed-hitting Daniel Descalso, who homered in his last at-bat.

Descalso grounds out to Justin Turner, who is swung around toward shortstop, makes a nice play going to his right and throwing across his body.

Pinch hitter Chris Iannetta strikes out swinging. Three outs away.

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Dodgers go quietly in eighth; still lead, 3-1

Enrique Hernandez grounded out to shortstop.

Chase Utley grounded out to second base.

Logan Forsythe, pinch hitting in the pitcher’s spot, grounded out to third base.

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Morrow sets down Diamondbacks’ power in order

Brandon Morrow is still pitching for the Dodgers.

Paul Goldschmidt flies out to right.

J.D. Martinez grounds out to Justin Turner.

Jake Lamb grounds out to Cody Bellinger.

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Dodgers strand two; still lead, 3-1

Archie Bradley becomes the Diamondbacks’ fourth pitcher.

Corey Seager grounds out to second base.

Justin Turner grounds out to third base.

Cody Bellinger walks.

Yasiel Puig walks.

Austin Barnes strikes out swinging.

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Darvish is out but it’s Dodgers who are greatly relieved

Christian Walker, pinch-hitting in the pitcher’s spot, was hit by a pitch, the ball striking the bill of his helmet.

Earlier in the bat-bat, Darvish threw a pitch that nearly struck Walker but instead hit the nob of the bat.

The hit batter brought a quick hook from Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, who removed Darvish even though he was throwing a two-hitter.

Left-hander Tony Cingrani is in for the Dodgers.

David Peralta grounds to Bellinger, who starts a 3-6-3 double play. Nice work by Cingrani.

Quick, too. After getting two outs in two pitches, Cingrani is removed in favor on Brandon Morrow.

Cody Bellinger is having a game. He went far to his right to snag a hard-hit grounder by Ketel Marte, and underhanded the ball to Morrow covering first for the third out.

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Dodgers strike back with home run by Austin Barnes

It didn’t take the Dodgers long to get back the run from Descalso’s homer.

Austin Barnes cracked Zack Greinke’s second pitch of the inning -- and 105th of the game -- over the left field fence.

The Dodgers lead is 3-1 and Greinke’s night is through.

Left-hander Jorge De La Rosa is on to pitch for the Diamondbacks.

Enrique Hernandez, pinch hitting for Curtis Granderson, greets De La Rosa with a double to right-center field.

Chase Utley, ever the professional, moves Hernandez to third with a ground ball to the right side. It won’t show up as a sacrifice in the boxscore, but it gets the job done.

Former Angel David Hernandez is now on to pitch for the Diamondbacks.

Yu Darvish bounces out to third.

Chris Taylor strikes out looking.

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Descalso homer cuts Dodgers lead to 2-1

Yasiel Puig can't reach a home run hit by Daniel Descalso.
Yasiel Puig can’t reach a home run hit by Daniel Descalso.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

Jake Lamb became Yu Darvish’s fourth consecutive strikeout victim.

A.J. Pollock grounds sharply to Justin Turner. (Moral victory.)

Daniel Descalso homers to right on what looks to be a hanging slider. (Real victory.) Dodgers’ lead is trimmed to 2-1.

Cody Bellinger lunges into the Dodgers’ dugout along the first base line to backhand a foul pop up by Jeff Mathis. Quite a play, and Bellinger is lucky he was going into his own dugout.

Cody Bellinger lunges into the dugout to catch a foul pop up by Jeff Mathis.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Bellinger homers; Dodgers lead 2-0

Corey Seager flies out to the warning track in left field.

Justin Turner strikes out looking.

Cody Bellinger homers to left, breaking out of a mini-slump in a big way. Dodgers lead, 2-0.

Bellinger was 2 for 12 with six strikeouts before that home run. He is now the youngest Dodger to ever hit a home run in a playoff game. At 22 years and 88 days old, he broke the record set last October by Corey Seager (22 years, 163 days).

Yasiel Puig strikes out swinging.

Cody Bellinger is mobbed by teammates after hitting a homerun.
Cody Bellinger is mobbed by teammates after hitting a homerun.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Yu Darvish strikes out the side in fourth inning

Yu Darvish reacts after striking out J.D. Martinez to end the fourth inning
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

Ketel Marte strikes out looking.

Paul Goldschmidt strikes out swinging. Goldschmidt has faced Darvish eight times and has struck out in seven of them.

J.D. Martinez strikes out on a check swing.

Yu Darvish has six strikeouts, and he’s thrown only 46 pitches through four innings. Zack Greinke has thrown 88 pitches.

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Dodgers can’t knock Greinke off the tightrope he’s walking

Curtis Granderson strikes out. Yes, again.

Chase Utley works a five-pitch walk. Greinke has thrown 80 pitches. Yu Darvish has thrown 30.

Darvish bunts to Paul Goldschmidt, who has thoughts of throwing to second and trying to get a force, but instead gets the out at first.

Chris Taylor flies to right. Greinke has not pitched past the fourth inning in his last three outings. We’ll see if he does tonight.

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Seven-pitch third inning for Yu Darvish

Jeff Mathis grounds to Cody Bellinger.

Zack Greinke grounds to Justin Turner.

David Peralta grounds to Chase Utley.

That was fast. Seven pitches.

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Dodgers leave bases loaded in third; still lead, 1-0

Chris Taylor pops out to Paul Goldschmidt in foul territory on the first pitch. First easy out of the game for Greinke.

Back to the norm against Corey Seager. Yet another full count, and then ball four. Seager has walked in both plate appearances.

Justin Turner singles to center on a two-strike pitch, moving Seager to third.

Cody Bellinger continues to struggle, popping out to shallow left on the first pitch.

Yasiel Puig continues to show great plate discipline. He works a walk. Greinke has already thrown 70 pitches.

Austin Barnes, first-pitch swinging, is retired on a chopper to short.

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Darvish looks strong through two shutout innings

Jake Lamb strikes out on four pitches.

A.J. Pollock pops up to Corey Seager in the infield.

Daniel Descalso takes two balls and Darvish comes back with three consecutive strikes, the last of which Descalso watches go by.

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Greinke needs 54 pitches to get through two innings

Another full count for Zack Greinke starting off the second, this time to Austin Barnes, who ends up flying out to center field.

Curtis Granderson flys to left field. A minute later, manager Dave Roberts can be seen giving Granderson what appears to be a pep talk in the dugout.

You won’t believe this, but Chase Utley worked a full count and then took a walk. Utley made his first start of the series tonight.

Yu Darish struck out, but it took six pitches to do it. Greinke has made 54 pitches in two innings.

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Darvish off to strong start; Diamondbacks go four out, three down in first

Chris Taylor scores on a ground out by Cody Bellinger during the first inning against the Diamondbacks in Game 3 of the National League division series.
(Christian Petersen / Getty Images)

Yu Darvish struck out David Peralta on three pitches.

Ketel Marte drag bunts for a base hit.

Paul Goldschmidt flew out to center field.

J.D. Martinez broke his bat and hits a ground ball up the middle that Corey Seager makes a nice play to get, then backhands a flip to Chase Utley to force Marte out at second.

After an inning, the Dodgers lead, 1-0.

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Taylor’s lead-off double allows Dodgers to strike first

Chris Taylor slides into home for the first run of the game.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

Chris Taylor took a big hack at Zack Grienke’s first pitch, took three consecutive balls, then took a strike and then crushed a breaking ball into the left-field corner for a double.

Corey Seager also took Greinke to a full count, fouled off a sixth pitch and then took ball four. In this career, Seager has six hits and six walks in 17 plate appearances against Greinke.

Justin Turner, behind on the count after a outside fastball was called a strike, lofted a fly ball to right-center field, deep enough to move Taylor to third base.

Cody Bellinger topped a ball that Paul Goldschmidt took right at the first-base bag, so he took the out there as Chris Taylor scored. Seager advanced to second, and there are two outs.

Another full count -- plus -- for Greinke, this time against Yasiel Puig, who fouled off several pitches before lining Greinke’s 29th pitch of the inning right at AJ Pollock in center field.

Dodgers lead, 1-0. Diamondbacks coming to bat against Yu Darvish.

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Despite success at Chase Field, Ethier will come off the bench

Andre Ethier has played regular-season 76 games at Chase Field and has a .303/.360/.494 slash line with six homers and 28 doubles.

But his history was not enough to get him into the lineup on Monday. Curtis Granderson started in left field, and Roberts suggested he would not give up on Granderson despite a strikeout-prone tenure as a Dodger.

Granderson provided a crucial pinch hit in Game 2.

The organization continues to view Ethier as a weapon off the bench. He missed the first five months of the season with a herniated disk. His value as a reserve outweighed his success at this ballpark.

“There is something to the history, but there’s also something to winning this one game,” Roberts said. “This alignment gives us the best chance.”

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Arizona manager Torey Lovullo says it’s all hands on deck for the Diamondbacks

Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said he is willing to use any of his pitchers in relief of starter Zack Greinke in tonight’s Game 3 of the National League Division Series at Chase Field.

That includes right-handers Taijuan Walker and Zack Godley, who each pitched in Arizona’s Game 1 loss at Dodger Stadium. If the Diamondbacks do not beat the Dodgers tonight, their season is over, so Lovullo’s hand is forced.

“Everybody’s available today,” Lovullo said. “Everybody. We’ve got three Wild Card Games in a row, and that’s how we’re looking at it. There’s going to be no situation where we can play baseball tomorrow if we don’t win today.

“So, we’re going to leave it wide open and tee it up as high as we possibly can, and let it rip.”

The Diamondbacks have left-hander Patrick Corbin slotted to start tomorrow. Because they don’t have another pitcher who could take that spot, Corbin would likely pitch only in an emergency tonight. He said he was prepared to do so in Games 1 and 2.

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Dodgers’ Austin Barnes gets start at catcher over Yasmani Grandal

Austin Barnes hits a two-run doube to give the Dodgers a 6-2 led in the fifth inning over the Diamondbacks in Game 2 of the National League division series on Oct. 7.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Austin Barnes has started 23 games against right-handed pitchers in his major league career. He’ll make his 24th tonight, in Game 3 of the National League division series at Chase Field.

Facing ex-Dodger Zack Greinke, who often boasts pristine command, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts opted for Barnes’ plate discipline over Yasmani Grandal’s power potential.

“With Austin, it’s just more of, I’ve liked the at-bat quality,” Roberts said. “Just to be able to get a hit, spoil pitches, and with Zack who obviously is a tactician on the mound. I think that Austin has a great way of being selective, grinding at-bats.”

Barnes, 27, accrued brief stints in the majors over the two previous seasons, but 2017 brought his first extended chance. With it, he soared, crushing pitching from both sides, although he mostly started when there was a left-hander on the mound.

In all, he logged a .289 average, .408 on-base percentage, and .486 slugging percentage over 262 plate appearances.

Only eight players in the sport batted as often and posted on-base and slugging marks as good as Barnes.

Roberts also cited Game 3 starter Yu Darvish’s burgeoning rapport with Barnes. Darvish had a much better earned-run average when pitching to Grandal, but neither sample is large enough to be representative. Barnes did catch Darvish’s second start as a Dodger at Chase Field, two months ago Tuesday.

Barnes started in Game 2 of this NLDS, against Arizona left-hander Robbie Ray, and reached base three times in four opportunities.

As the regular season waned, Barnes received more playing time. His 12 September starts were his most in any month, and he did not fade. His on-base-plus-slugging percentage was at least .810 in every month of 2017.

One of the lesser-heralded pieces in the December 2014 trade that sent Dee Gordon to Miami, Barnes has developed into the Dodgers’ likely catcher of the future. Grandal, 28, is under team control for one more season, but he could be a trade candidate this off-season.

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Dodgers manager Dave Roberts talks about the difficulty of close-out games

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts talks about his Game 3 roster, potential Game 4 starter Alex Wood, Cody Bellinger’s struggles at the plate and the difficulty of winning close-out games.

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Dodgers-Diamondbacks lineups for Game 3

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Dodgers pitcher Alex Wood talks about staying ready for a potential Game 4 start

Dodgers pitcher Alex Wood talks about staying prepared to pitch tomorrow against the Arizona Diamondbacks in a potential Game 4 of the National League division series.

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Yu Darvish’s Dodger career starts tonight

And so it finally starts, Yu Darvish’s career with the Dodgers.

Darvish has pitched nine games for his new team, but the truth is that none of them really counted.

There was never any pretense otherwise. From the moment the Japanese right-hander was acquired at the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline, he knew he was here to pitch in October. Specifically, he was here to pitch in October in the kind of game he will pitch Monday night at Chase Field opposite Zack Greinke in Game 3 of the National League division series, which the Dodgers lead 2-0.

Darvish will be called on to close out the best-of-five series, but his responsibilities extend beyond the upcoming game. As the team’s greatest X-factor, his performance could determine how this postseason plays out for the Dodgers. If he can be their second frontline pitcher alongside Clayton Kershaw, he can move the Dodgers within arm’s reach of their first World Series in 29 years.

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Playoff series length can affect play for Dodgers and Diamondbacks

Logan Forsythe, Yasiel Puig and Corey Seager celebrate the Game 2 win over the Diamondbacks.
( (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times))

Since Major League Baseball introduced the best-of-five division series 22 years ago, the winner of the first game has won the series 72% of the time. That rate is only slightly higher than in the next rounds’ seven-game series. The abbreviated length for the MLB postseason’s first round does not significantly alter the series’ outcomes, in reality or in theory.

It does change the way the games are played and, mostly, managed, as the first two games of the National League Division series between the Dodgers and Diamondbacks demonstrated.

Statistics tell us that if Team A would ordinarily beat Team B 55% of the time, Team A would be 59% likely to win a five-game series over Team B. Stretch that out to a seven-game series, and Team A would win 61% of the time.

For the first three years of the new division series, it included only one travel day. A 1998 change instituted the 2-2-1 format, with two included off days. In terms of in-game strategy, there are two ways the current form of a best-of-five series differs from a best-of-seven.

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Zack Greinke hopes third time is a charm

Zack Greinke
Zack Greinke
(Harry How / Getty Images)

Arizona right-hander Zack Greinke will take the Chase Field mound Monday for the third elimination-game start of his major league career.

The first, he made as a Dodger, in Game 5 of the 2015 National League Division Series, a loss to the New York Mets. The second was Wednesday, in the National League wild-card game. He later admitted he was nervous.

“But, I felt it helped, if anything,” Greinke said. “As long as you’re not, like, overly nervous, it just gets you locked, like you’re more focused and more locked in sometimes, and that’s how I felt last game.”

Ignoring feelings, he did not pitch well. He surrendered six hits and four runs in 3 2/3 innings, a failed fourth inning forcing the Diamondbacks to empty their bullpen and hamper their chances in the next round. In recalling the events of that inning, Greinke felt he had mostly executed as intended. Only the results were off.

That would be insufficient Monday. From the first two games of this NLDS, as the Dodgers pounded his teammates for 24 hits and 17 runs, Greinke gleaned that his Game 3 opponents are collectively unwilling to chase.

The statistics bear that out. In the regular season, the Dodgers swung at only 26% of pitches outside the strike zone, the lowest rate in the major leagues. That’s a 15% improvement from their chase rate in 2014, Greinke’s penultimate year as a Dodger.

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Dodgers don’t plan to take a dip in the Diamondbacks’ pool

The pool is beyond the right-field fence at Chase Field, surrounded by deck chairs like an oasis in this desert. Fountains burble fresh streams of chlorinated water. A hot tub sits nearby. The water only goes four feet deep, which would explain the signs ringing the area.

“Danger,” the signs read. “No Jumping. Violators Will Be Ejected.”

On Monday night, in Game 3 of a National League division series against Arizona, the Dodgers will have a chance to breach stadium policy as they try to finish off a first-round sweep. Four years ago, when the Dodgers clinched the NL West title in the ballpark, the players celebrated by splashing about in the pool, a decision that drew the ire of the Diamondbacks.

As the Dodgers came to town Sunday evening, manager Dave Roberts issued a proclamation about the possibility of a reprise.

“That won’t happen,” Roberts said. “This is a completely different team. I think we have bigger goals than to jump into a swimming pool. Our guys clearly understand what this is about. We have no interest in jumping into a pool in right field.”

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