Los Angeles, CA—-The LA Dodgers have been on a tear of late and inserting their dominance in the NL West Divison.
The Dodgers beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 3-2 Thursday on a walk-off single by Mookie Betts with two outs. It was their 45th comeback victory which leads the Majors
“I think that may be one of my first pinch hits, so that part was pretty cool,” Betts said. “I was hoping not to hit, but you get to a point where the situation calls and you turn your brain on and you’re ready to go.”
Arizona starter Zac Gallen retired the first 11 hitters he faced, striking out five in a row. He struck out the side in the eighth inning. The right-hander allowed one run and two hits in a career-best eight innings.
Tony Gonsolin, on the injured list since Aug. 29 with a forearm strain, was pitching to teammates Gavin Lux, Chris Taylor, Hanser Alberto, and Miguel Vargas. He held nothing back, throwing his four-seam fastball, slider, curveball, and his split-finger to keep the Diamondbacks hitter honest.
Gonsolin, whose injury interrupted a breakout season that includes a 16-1 record and 2.10 ERA looked good throwing off the mound. He has given up only 76 hits in 128 1/3 innings.
“I thought the stuff was good, the arm speed was good, and he used his entire pitch mix, which was great,” Roberts said. “Assuming he comes out of it OK, there’ll be a bullpen in a couple of days, then another live two-to-three inning, hopefully, up-down. Really encouraging for Tony.”
Christian Walker crushed a 435-foot shot into the left field pavilion— his 36th homer overall and sixth against the Dodgers this season — for a 2-1 lead against Craig Kimbrel.
Cody Bellinger led off with a double in the ninth — just missing a home run — and Will Smith and Max Muncy followed an intentional walk to Freddie Freeman with infield singles to tie the score. With two outs, Betts pinch-hit for left fielder Joey Gallo, fouled off a full-count pitch and drove a screamer to left field to knock in Freeman.
“I was hoping not to hit,” Betts said, “but you get into a situation that calls for it and you turn your brain on and you are ready to go.”
Kimbrel (6-6) got the win despite again struggling in the ninth.
Turner also had another streak end. He had reached base safely in each of his last 47 games against the D-backs, the longest current streak for any active batter against any team.
UP NEXT:
Diamondbacks: Hadn’t announced a starter for Friday’s opener of a three-game series against San Francisco.
Dodgers: LHP Andrew Heaney (3-2, 2.66 ERA) starts against Albert Pujols and the Cardinals in the series opener Friday.
