Yasiel Puig leads Dodgers over Diamondbacks, 4-1

LOS ANGELES -- Yasiel Puig blasted a line-drive three-run home run in a four-run sixth inning to give the Dodgers a 4-1 win over the Diamondbacks on Sunday afternoon at Dodger Stadium.

With the Dodgers up 1-0 and Carl Crawford on third base with two outs in the sixth inning, Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson elected to intentionally walk Adrian Gonzalez to get to Puig, who made Arizona pay by hitting the second pitch over the left center field wall and a 4-0 lead.

That made a winner out of Jamey Wright, who pitched a scoreless sixth inning but allowed a run in the seventh. Wright replaced Josh Beckett, who had his best start of the year to date.

Beckett was lifted after seven strikeouts and 83 pitches in his five scoreless innings. He allowed just one hit and two walks, and has pitched 11 consecutive scoreless innings.

He ran into trouble in the fourth inning, when Cliff Pennington walked to start the inning and Paul Goldschmidt reached on catcher's interference. It was the second time in three games Federowicz was called for catcher's interference, but the backstop stayed in the game after getting his left wrist and hand examined by trainer Stan Conte.

There have been five catcher's interference calls in MLB this season, and three against the Dodgers. Federowicz is the only catcher to be charged twice.

But Beckett was able to escape the jam with a 3-6-1 double play from Miguel Montero and a strikeout of Aaron Hill. Beckett retired his final five batters faced, including three strikeouts and a foul pop out.

Kenley Jansen struck out the side in the ninth inning for his seventh save of the season. It was the 13th appearance for Jansen in the Dodgers' first 19 games, tying Ramon Troncoso in 2010 for the most by a Dodger in the first 19 games of the year. Jansen leads MLB in appearances this season, and has a two-game lead over several, including teammate J.P. Howell, who got the final two outs on Sunday.

Assist man

In addition to his home run, Puig showed off his arm in the first inning, whirling and throwing from the right field corner to nab Miguel Montero at second base trying to stretch a single into a double.

It was the third straight game with an assist for Puig, who leads all major league outfielders with four assists this season.

Notes

Crawford was on third base in the sixth inning thanks to an RBI triple, the 118th of his career to lead all active players. It was also the first triple hit by the Dodgers at home in 2014. Last year the Dodgers hit five triples at home, tied for the third-fewest at home since Dodger Stadium opened in 1962.

Gonzalez doubled in the second inning to extend his hitting streak to 15 games, the longest in the National League this season.

Wright struck out in the sixth inning, his second plate appearance of the season. Since switching to relief in 2007, Wright is 0-for-5 at the plate with four strikeouts and one sacrifice bunt.

Diamondbacks center fielder A.J. Pollock left the game in the sixth inning with tightness in his neck.

Birthday boys

Sunday was manager Don Mattingly's 53rd birthday. As a player he played on his birthday 10 times, and hit .316/.422/.526 (12-for-38) with two home runs, two doubles, five runs scored, seven walks, and nine runs batted in. Mattingly had a hit in nine of his 10 games on April 20, failing to get a hit on his birthday only in 1992, against Scott Scudder and Derek Lilliquist for Cleveland. Mattingly never struck out on his birthday, in 45 plate appearances.

It would have also on Sunday been the 125th birthday of Adolf Hitler, a fact Vin Scully mentioned on the broadcast with great disdain (thanks to Matt Foster for the audio).

Up next

The Dodgers welcome the Phillies to town for four night games beginning Monday. Paul Maholm starts the opener, facing Cliff Lee for Philadelphia.

Sunday particulars

Home run: Yasiel Puig (2)

WP - Jamey Wright (1-0): 1+ IP, 1 hit, 1 walk, 1 strikeout

LP - Josh Collmenter (0-2): 6 IP, 5 hits, 4 runs, 2 walks, 6 strikeouts

Sv - Kenley Jansen (7): 1 IP, 3 strikeouts