Advertisement

Dodgers fall, 4-0, and are swept by Diamondbacks

Share

It did turn out to be a “trap series,” much to the chagrin of Dodgers Manager Don Mattingly.

Mattingly used the phrase to describe his fear that the Dodgers, after sweeping the Giants in San Francisco to grab a share of the division lead, might turn flat when they returned home to play the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Did they ever.

Rookie starter Patrick Corbin and three Diamondbacks relievers gave up only two hits in shutting down the Dodgers, 4-0, Wednesday afternoon, giving Arizona a sweep of the three-game series.

The loss dropped the Dodgers 11/2 games behind the Giants, who played Wednesday night, in the National League West. Arizona was three games behind.

“You don’t score, you’re not going to win,” Mattingly said. “You’ve got to turn the page and move on.”

Indeed, the Dodgers offense went missing in the series, despite the additions of Hanley Ramirez and, on Wednesday, of Shane Victorino through trades.

The Diamondbacks outscored the Dodgers, 19-4, in the series. And on Wednesday, they had nothing for Corbin (3-4), a left-hander who was recalled from triple A and was making only his sixth big league start.

One of the Dodgers’ two hits was a second-inning single by rookie pitcher Stephen Fife (0-1), who was making his third start.

Fife gave up two runs and six hits in 41/3 innings and said “my execution today with the fastball was subpar.”

“I felt like I battled OK, but I definitely fell behind a lot” in counts and “made some mistakes up in the strike zone,” Fife said.

One mistake came in the fourth inning when Chris Johnson hit a 2-and-0 fastball for a solo home run that gave the Diamondbacks a 2-0 lead.

In the eighth inning, Arizona had Justin Upton on first base and, with the left-handed Miguel Montero coming up, Mattingly replaced Brandon League, who was recently acquired from the Seattle Mariners, with left-hander Randy Choate, who was recently acquired from the Miami Marlins.

Montero hit a home run to center field and the Diamondbacks led, 4-0. Montero had a run-scoring single in the first inning.

The Dodgers started 39-22, but they’re 17-28 since June 10. Regardless, the Dodgers, including some of their newest arrivals, said they would put the series behind them.

“Today’s a loss, you check it at the door, you show up Friday and get ready to go,” Victorino said.

The Dodgers are off Thursday before starting a three-game series against the Chicago Cubs on Friday.

“It’s a little frustrating, losing three to a team that’s trailing you and trying to catch you,” Victorino said. “But there’s so much baseball left. We’re going to be fine.”

Center fielder Matt Kemp agreed.

“We’re big league baseball players,” he said. “We just got to keep going out there and doing our job. No excuses.”

james.peltz@latimes.com

Advertisement