The Diamondbacks were hoping that using an opener would give them a better chance of slowing down the Dodgers lineup when Slade Cecconi came into the game. The plan worked for the first two two innings, but as Mike Tyson famously once said, “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth”. Cecconi and the Diamondbacks were repeatedly punched in the mouth in the third inning, as the rookie right-hander surrendered six runs on three home runs in a 6-4 loss to the Dodgers.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!The shame about that inning was Arizona took a 1-0 lead in the top half of the inning. Kevin Newman roped a double down the left field line and Ketel Marte extended the inning with a two-out walk to bring Joc Pederson to the plate. Pederson entered that at-bat 3-for-4 against Dodgers starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto, before roping a 109.7 MPH line drive into center field to score Newman. Christian Walker smoked a 109 MPH line drive toward the right-center gap, but Jayson Heyward closed it quickly to deny the Diamondbacks two more runs.
8-pitch AB ends with Joc Pederson giving the #Dbacks a lead. 4 of 5 balls in play that inning over 100 MPH. pic.twitter.com/OZHVcSLR02
— Michael McDermott (@MichaelMcDMLB) May 21, 2024
The lead would not last for even a single batter. After a long at-bat, Enrique Hernandez drove a center-cut fastball out to straightaway center field. Two singles and a walk then set the stages for Freddie Freeman to turn that into a big inning. Cecconi missed with another fastball over the plate, with Freeman hitting a long home run to right center to give the Dodgers a 5-1 lead. Will Smith then followed with another home run to cap off a six-run inning.
With the way the Dodgers were hitting Cecconi in the third, it may have been possible he was tipping his pitches. Cecconi looked at video with pitching coach Brent Strom, and came back out for three more scoreless innings. He retired the final 12 hitters faced, but the damage had already been done and the hole proved to be too big to climb out of despite the fight Arizona showed late in the game.
The Diamondbacks showed their resiliency in this game, not giving up until the final out. Kevin Newman, who entered play hitting .368 in his last 12 games, singled in Arizona’s second run of the night for his third hit and knocked Yamamoto out from the game. They put themselves in another situation to hit their way back in the game, as a single by Carroll plus a fielding error put Arizona one hit away from making it interesting. Ketel Marte came close to providing that hit, but his 117 MPH line drive went right to shortstop Mookie Betts to allow the Dodgers to wiggle off the hook.
Despite the rough luck, they continued to battle back. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Jake McCarthy hit back-to-back home runs off Elieser Hernandez to cut the deficit in half. However, the comeback bid would fall short in the ninth when Daniel Hudson retired the Diamondbacks in order.
The Diamondbacks return to play the Dodgers in the second game of the series. Arizona will send right-hander Brandon Pfaadt (1-3, 4.17 ERA) while Los Angeles will have Gavin Stone (4-1, 3.27 ERA) take the mound. First pitch at Dodger Stadium will be at 7:10 PM MST.
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Michael McDermott covers the Arizona Diamondbacks and Arizona Cardinals for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @MichaelMcDMLB
