The Diamondbacks routed the Dodgers 9-3 at Dodger Stadium to take the series. Despite a short start from Zac Gallen, his teammates picked him up. Christian Walker crushed two more home runs and the bullpen, led by Justin Martinez, was dominant for the final five innings.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!“We won this game because of Justin Martinez and Christian Walker,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo told reporter Todd Walsh in the postgame coverage on Dbacks TV.
Walker’s season at Dodger Stadium has been nothing but absurd. With home runs in his first two at-bats, he became the player to hit seven home runs in that ballpark in a five-game span, per MLB researcher Sarah Langs. He also became the third-ever visiting player to have more home runs than games played, with a minimum of six games, joining Mark McGwire (1987 Athletics) and Gary Geiger (1963 Red Sox). Both McGwire and Geiger accomplished the feat in Tiger Stadium.
“Christian is self-made,” said Lovullo. “He is a coach’s dream, a manager’s dream. He is on a schedule, there’s a routine to everything he does. He doesn’t miss a day of ground balls on defense, he hits live on the field, he hits velocity machine on the field. He does all the little things to make sure that his game tuned up. He deserves what he gets in this game, and it’s really fun for us to watch.”
Thanks to Walker’s heroics, the Diamondbacks took a 4-0 lead going into the fourth. However, the Dodgers made a run off Arizona ace Zac Gallen. After loading the bases with one out, Kiké Hernandez hit a three-hopper to short. Geraldo Perdomo was unable to cleanly field it and had to settle for the out at first. Austin Barnes took advantage of the opportunity, dropping a fly ball right between Ketel Marte and Alek Thomas to make it 4-3. However, that would be the last time the Dodgers threatened on the night.
With the pitch count climbing, having to endure long at-bats to Freddie Freeman and Chris Taylor twice, Lovullo pulled Zac Gallen after four tough innings and 85 pitches. Coming off his second start since being activated from the injured list, Gallen isn’t quite as stretched out as normal.
The Diamondbacks immediately answered the bell the following inning. Corbin Carroll’s speed once again was a factor, reaching on a bunt single after eluding Freddie Freeman’s tag. He stole second, then scored on Ketel Marte’s single to make it 5-3.
With a two-run lead and needing to get 15 outs to finish out the game, Lovullo turned to Martinez to eat a significant chunk of those innings. Martinez went above and beyond, firing three dominant innings with five strikeouts and picking up the win. He allowed just two hits, both swinging bunts to third base. With a tired bullpen that’s had to work in this series, with multiple relievers down for the game, and wanting to avoid bringing in Joe Jacques in a close game, they asked Martinez to give them one more inning. In that third inning, he punctuated his outing by striking out Shohei Ohtani and Teoscar Hernández in his final inning of work.
“He was unreal, he gave us everything he could in three unbelievable innings,” said Lovullo. “We had a pitch count in mind, and he exceeded that pitch count slightly, but he was fantastic.”
“His stuff is electric, his ability to compete and lock in, that’s what wins us the game,” Walker told Walsh in a postgame interview on Dbacks TV. “Martinez coming in like that, putting up zeros in the middle of the game like that. Big three innings for us and against a really good lineup. I think was a big part of the reason why we won tonight.”
The Diamondbacks blew the game open in the ninth, sending all nine hitters to the plate and scoring four insurance runs. With two outs, Marte collected his second single of the night. Lovullo brought in Randal Grichuk off the bench, hoping to get his star first baseman another chance to hit in Dodger Stadium. After a pitch-around loaded the bases, the big hits came. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. floated a ball to shallow left and Gabriel Moreno smoked a ground ball down the left field line to turn the game into a blowout. Thyago Vieira punctuated the end of the series with a flourish, striking out the side with 98-100 MPH heaters.
Arizona will travel to San Diego, with their confidence brimming as they take on the Padres. The Diamondbacks will send out right-hander Slade Cecconi (2-6, 5.81 ERA) while the Padres will go with right-hander Randy Vasquez (2-4, 4.88 ERA). First pitch at Petco Park will be at 6:40 P.M. MST.
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Michael McDermott covers the Arizona Diamondbacks and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @MichaelMcDMLB
