Dodgers celebrate Father’s Day with sweep

This game got too close for comfort, as the Dodgers nearly blew an eight-run lead. Luckily they pulled through, pulling out the 9-8 victory to give LA the sweep over the D-Backs.

It took a couple innings to heat things up, but the Dodgers piled on all nine of their runs over the course of innings 3-5. After a leadoff strikeout, Chris Taylor and AJ Pollock each reached base to start the rally. Justin Turner then singled in the first run of the game for the Dodgers.

Albert Pujols stepped up to the plate and crushed a three-run homer, giving the Dodgers the 4-0 lead. For Pujols, it’s his sixth home run already while with the Dodgers. Since he debuted with the Dodgers on May 17, his six homers are tied for the team lead. Not a bad addition, I’d say. For those curious, he is now 27 home runs away from 700.

The runs wouldn’t stop there. After a walk from Andy Burns, Steven Souza Jr. tripled in a run. He had a fantastic series in Arizona, a place where he suffered a near career-ending injury two years ago.

LA added two more runs an inning later. After back-to-back hits to begin the inning, AJ Pollock doubled in two runs to give the Dodgers a 7-0 lead. Pollock had a great series in his former home ballpark, as he recorded five hits during the three-game series, including three on Sunday.

Tony Gonsolin got the start for the Dodgers and had another solid outing for LA. He gave them 3 ²⁄₃ innings, but threw only 46 pitches. Prior to the game, Dave Roberts said that Gonsolin would throw only 45-60 pitches. Gonsolin had two strikeouts and didn’t issue a walk. After he had a rough start to his season, he’s allowed only two runs in 7 ¹⁄₃ innings since his 2021 debut.

Well, this game looked to be in cruise control, but the D-Backs battled back into this game. Entering the eighth inning down 9-2, Arizona scored six runs to make it a one-run game. Edwin Uceta got roughed up, as he allowed five runs in his 1 ²⁄₃ innings of work. Victor Gonzalez relieved Uctea, but allowed three of four batters to reach base.

With two outs, Arizona had runners on the corners and trailed by only one run. Luckily for Gonzalez, he was able to escape the jam by getting a groundout, sending the game to the ninth inning.

Kenley Jansen took over in the ninth with a one-run lead and shut things down, retiring the side in order to give the Dodgers the win.

Sunday particulars

WP: Garrett Cleavinger (2-3) 1 ¹⁄₃ IP, 0 ER

LP: Alex Young (2-5) 3 IP, 5 ER, 7 H

SV: Kenley Jansen (18) 1 IP, 0 ER, 1 SO

HR: Albert Pujols (11)

Box score:

Up next

The Dodgers will travel to San Diego where they’ll have a crucial three-game series against the Padres. They open the series on Monday night.