Dodgers waste late opportunities, lose to Arizona in extra innings

Daniel Descalso provided the punch to the mid-section with a three-run homer in the top half of the 12th inning, handing the Dodgers a tough 8-5 loss to the Diamondbacks.

The 10th loss in their last 14 drops the Dodgers to nine games behind Arizona in the National League west.

There were plenty of chances for the home team in the extra innings. The Dodgers loaded the bases in the 10th with one out and had runners on first and second with nobody out in the 11th, each time walking away empty.

Tuesday’s contest was the 11th meeting between these two teams this season and Arizona has now won eighth of those games.

It was an uphill climb all night with Arizona jumping out to an early lead but the Dodgers chipped away at what once was a 5-2 deficit. The effort had finally paid off in the bottom of the ninth when Kiké Hernandez came to the plate.

Trailing by a run, Hernandez sent the game to extra innings with a pinch-hit homer to dead center. Hernandez is now 3-for-8 with two home runs in that role this year.

The Dodger offense had some fight in them from the start. Going down 2-0 early in the first on a two-run homer off the bat of A.J. Pollock, the Dodgers immediately got one back in the bottom of the first on a Matt Kemp RBI-single.

Although they couldn’t come up with the big hit, they had Zack Godley on the ropes for much of the evening. The right-hander gave up four runs on six hits and four walks over five and two-thirds innings.

Rich Hill didn’t have anything working for him in his first start for the Dodgers since April 14. Fresh off the disabled list, Hill allowed five runs on three homers in four innings of work. The lefty has had a rough start to 2018 with 15 earned runs and six homers in his last 13 innings over three starts.

The Dodger bullpen did well to hold the Dbacks scoreless until the 12th inning, but not even two scoreless innings from Kenley Jansen could help the offense score that last run they needed.

Up next

The Dodgers close out the short two-game set with Arizona, sending Alex Wood (0-3, 3.83) to the mound against Patrick Corbin (4-0, 2.15). These teams won’t face each other again until August 30.

Monday particulars

Home run: Grandal (5) Hernandez (5); Pollock (11), Owings (2), Murphy (3) Daniel Descalso (4)

WP - T.J. McFarland (2-1): 1 ¹⁄₃ IP, 1 strikeout

LP - Yimi Garcia (0-1): 1 IP, 2 hits, 3 runs, 1 walk,