LOS ANGELES (AP) — Scratching for some runs, the Los Angeles Dodgers got a little lucky. And sometimes, that’s more helpful in the moment than being the defending World Series champions.
Will Smith’s pinch-hit sacrifice fly with the bases loaded in the seventh inning scored the tying and go-ahead runs when Josh Rojas dropped the ball in right field, helping the Dodgers rally past the Arizona Diamondbacks 4-2 on Wednesday night.
“You don’t see that very often,” Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts said. “That inning of at-bats was next level.”
Mookie Betts followed with a ground-rule double after going hitless in his first three at-bats as the Dodgers capitalized on two walks and that glaring miscue by the Diamondbacks to take a 4-2 lead.
Arizona opened the bottom of the seventh by issuing back-to-back walks, including one by Joe Mantiply (0-1) to Gavin Lux that put two runners on. Pinch-hitter Albert Pujols’ blooper to shallow right field went off the glove of first baseman Pavin Smith, who tried to make the catch with his back to the infield and the ball coming down over his head. Instead, the single loaded the bases.
After Austin Barnes struck out, Will Smith’s line drive to right glanced off the edge of Rojas’ glove and rolled away. Taylor and Lux scored as Smith reached on an error that sent Pujols to second. Betts’ ground-rule double to center made it 4-2, scoring DJ Peters, who ran for Pujols.
“The Albert ball, he was trying to call timeout on that pitch and got jammed,” Roberts said. “We caught a break and that’s sometimes baseball. Yeah, we got a little good fortune, but we created some luck by making some plays ourselves.”
Arizona has been outscored 16-4 in losing the first three games of the series. The Diamondbacks lost their fourth in a row overall and ninth…
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