Another big inning propels Diamondbacks past Dodgers

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Another big inning propels Diamondbacks past Dodgers

Yasmany Tomas homered twice and David Peralta hit a team-record four doubles, leading the Arizona Diamondbacks to an 11-5 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday night.

Chris Herrmann and Jake Lamb each hit a two-run homer for Arizona. Peralta scored three times and Tomas drove in his third run by drawing a bases-loaded walk as part of a three-run seventh inning.

Arizona improved to 8-1 at home and 12-7 overall, with wins in five of its last seven games. The Diamondbacks’ home record is the best after nine games in franchise history.

BOX SCORE: Diamondbacks 11, Dodgers 5

The Dodgers (8-10) have lost five of six.

Herrmann homered off starter Kenta Maeda (1-2) in the fourth, giving the Diamondbacks a 5-2 lead on the way to their fourth straight win over Los Angeles this month.

– Associated Press

POSTGAME READING: Finally: It’s home sweet home for D-Backs

Questionable calls

Have to wonder about two decisions the Diamondbacks made in the top of the sixth inning. First, manager Torey Lovullo didn’t have a left-hander warming up in the bullpen when Dodgers manager Dave Roberts sent in Adrian Gonzalez to pinch-hit for lead-off hitter Enrique Hernandez with the bases loaded. Perhaps Lovullo didn’t think Roberts would lift Hernandez, who had homered to start the game. So, right-hander Tom Wilhelmsen was left in to face Gonzalez. Then, the second decision: Gonzalez hit a chopper to short that Chris Owings had to go into the hole to nab. Instead of immediately throwing to first to get the slow-running Gonzalez and end the inning, Owings looked to third and second before finally throwing over to first. Too late. Gonzalez was safe and a run scored.

Ultimately, the Diamondbacks got out of the inning with a 6-5 lead. Robbie Ray’s final line after all that: 5 1/3 innings, nine hits, five earned runs.

Tomas twice as nice

Yasmany Tomas hit his second homer of the game, another solo blast, to give the Diamondbacks a 6-2 lead after five innings. It was Arizona’s fourth home run of the game. Jake Lamb and Tomas had back-to-back shots in the first inning and Chris Herrmann belted a two-run homer in the fourth.

Key moment?

There’s still a long way to go but if the Diamondbacks go on to win this game they’ll look back on Yasiel Puig’s at-bat in the third inning as a critical game-changer.

The Dodgers already had cut Arizona’s lead to 3-2 and had two runners on with no outs when Puig stepped to the plate. But Robbie Ray got Puig to bounce into a 6-4-3 double play and ended the threat by retiring Scott Van Slyke on a fly ball to right.

Southpaw attack

The Diamondbacks loaded their lineup with four left-handed hitters to face Dodgers’ righty Kenta Maeda, and the strategy paid off immediately. David Peralta crushed a ball to dead center for a one-out double in the bottom of the first – a replay upheld the call – and two batters later Jake Lamb smoked a two-run homer to give Arizona a 2-1 lead.

Just to be be fair, Yasmany Tomas then went opposite field for a solo homer and a 3-1 lead. It was the second time this season Arizona has had back-to-back homers, the first being April 6 against the Giants when Peralta and Paul Goldschmidt turned the trick.

How the West is won

The Diamondbacks are in a stretch of 20 straight games against National League West opponents, an early scheduling challenge that has been welcomed by manager Torey Lovullo. So far, Arizona is 5-6 through the first 11 games.

“I’ve said it before: We were trying to earn things around here and to play in the division and get on that track as soon as possible was pretty exciting for me, and I think the players were also ready for that challenge,” Lovullo said. “It gave us a birds-eye view to see what’s inside of our division.”

Quick hits from Lovullo press conference

Three quick hits from Lovullo’s pre-game press conference Saturday:

1. Lovullo said third baseman Jake Lamb has earned the right to start against left-handers. Lamb is hitting just .217 against lefties but Lovullo has kept him in the lineup for every lefty the Diamondbacks have faced with the exception of Los Angeles’ Clayton Kershaw. Lamb leads Arizona in homers (3) and RBIs (16).

“He’s swung the bat very well against left-handed pitching,” Lovullo said. “… It’s not necessarily the results he’s getting. It’s the approach I’m watching, the balanced swing. It’s about him getting into counts and being very competitive. To me that translates into success. To me Jake Lamb is an every day third baseman and I want him to think that way.”

2. Lovullo said he’s thinking about when he’ll give Paul Goldschmidt his first day off this year.

“He’s an elite player and we want our best players to play as much as possible,” Lovullo said. “However, I’ve said this from the very beginning: No players are going to play every game … I want us to be at our maximum strength in August and September when these games are very meaningful.”

3. Injured relievers Jake Barrett, Rubby De La Rosa and Steve Hathaway will throw in an extended spring game early next week but there’s still no definitive date as to when they’ll start a rehabilitation assignment.

Lineup

Pollock

Peralta

Goldschmidt

Lamb

Tomas

Descalso

Owings

Herrmann

Ray

Note: Diamondbacks LHP Robbie Ray (1-0, 1.96) vs. Dodgers RHP Kenta Maeda (1-1, 7.07). Chris Herrmann is starting at catcher and Daniel Descalso will start at second to get more left handed bats against Maeda.

Sunday’s game

When: 1:10 p.m.

Where: Chase Field.

Pitchers: Diamondbacks RHP Shelby Miller (2-1, 3.50) vs. Dodgers RHP Brandon McCarthy (2-0, 2.12).

TV/Radio: FSAZ/KMVP-FM (98.7), KHOV-FM (105.1)

Miller allowed just one run in 7 1/3 innings against the Padres in his last start and his fastball hit 99 mph. He was the first D-Backs pitcher to work into the eighth inning. Control has been a problem, however; Miller has walked seven batters in 18 innings. McCarthy, a former Diamondback, struck out eight Arizona hitters in five innings in his last start while giving up two runs. He’s the only Dodgers starter other than Clayton Kershaw to pitch into the sixth inning and he hasn’t allowed more than two earned runs in his three starts.

D-BACKS: Rally to win with 9 runs in 8th inning

Coming up

Monday: At Chase Field, 6:40 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Zack Greinke (1-2, 3.28) vs. Padres RHP Jhoulys Chacin (2-2, 4.70).

Tuesday: At Chase Field, 6:40 p.m., Diamondbacks LHP Patrick Corbin (1-3, 3.27) vs. Padres LHP Clayton Richard (2-2, 3.04).

Wednesday: At Chase Field, 6:40 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Taijuan Walker (2-1, 4.57) vs. Padres RHP Trevor Cahill (1-2, 3.44).