Justin Turner home run keys Dodgers 4-game sweep of Diamondbacks

The Dodgers finished off the first leg of their schedule gauntlet on a high note, finishing off a sweep of the Diamondbacks with a 5-3 win on Wednesday afternoon at Dodger Stadium.

One out away from getting swept in a four-game series at home to the Phillies for the first time in 37 years, the Dodgers snatched victory from the jaws of defeat on Sunday, then turned the tables on Arizona, delivering their second four-game home sweep of the Diamondbacks in 25 seasons. The other Los Angeles home sweep of Arizona over four games came last season, also in May.

The Dodgers head into their off day having gone 9-5 over the previous twelve days, including two doubleheader sweeps.

A Mookie Betts double and Freddie Freeman single gave the Dodgers a lead just two batters into the bottom of the first, the first time in nine games that the team scored first.

Despite the early run, this game still falls into the comeback bucket, just like every game of the win streak. Arizona rallied twice against Walker Buehler, plating single runs in both the second and third innings on RBI groundouts.

After a perfect first inning, Buehler allowed at least one batter to reach base in each of the next four frames. The Diamondbacks’ best scoring chance came in the fifth, loading the bases with nobody out. But Buehler responded to strike out Jordan Luplow and Pavin Smith, followed by a harmless groundout to third base by Christian Walker to end the threat.

The Dodgers kept Walker in the park after he homered in each of the first three games of this series.

Getting out of that jam preserved a lead for the Dodgers, earned the previous inning thanks to four consecutive hits off Zach Davies. The big blow was a three-run home run by Justin Turner, who also homered Tuesday and has eight extra-base hits in his last nine games.

Five runs is a threshold the Dodgers have reached in all five games of the win streak. They’ve scored five or more runs 24 times in 37 games this season, five more than any other MLB team. Los Angeles is 22-2 (.917), outpacing the MLB-wide winning percentage (.813) when scoring that much.

Arizona made Buehler work, ending his day after 91 pitches and five innings. The Diamondbacks pulled to within two runs and put the tying runs on base in the seventh inning. But David Price, who was activated Tuesday off the COVID-related injured list, and pitching Wednesday in his first game since April 22, struck out Josh Rojas on three pitches to end the threat and preserve the lead.

Price remained in for the eighth, and struck out two more batters in a perfect inning. He was the 15th different pitcher used by the Dodgers in a little over 45 hours, with three of them — Craig Kimbrel, Justin Bruihl, Daniel Hudson — appearing twice.

That group allowed 16 runs in four games to Arizona, which was good enough for the sweep thanks to the Dodgers offense scoring 29 times.

Wednesday particulars

Home run: Justin Turner (4)

WP — Walker Buehler (5-1): 5 IP, 6 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks, 4 strikeouts

LP — Zach Davies (2-2): 4 IP, 7 hits, 5 runs, 2 strikeouts

Sv — Daniel Hudson (2): 1 IP, 1 strikeout

Up next

The Dodgers are off Thursday, when they will head to Philadelphia for the start of a 10-game road trip that will also take them to Washington D.C. and Phoenix. A second straight weekend series against the Phillies begins Friday night (4:05 p.m. PT, SportsNet LA), with Julio Urías and Ranger Suárez facing off in a battle of left-handers and a rematch of last Saturday night in Los Angeles.