The Dodgers dropped the first two games to the Diamondbacks before avoiding the sweep by getting a 9-3 win on Sunday.
Clayton Kershaw took the loss on Friday, being roughed up for four runs in the second inning. He gave up six hits and four walks before leaving with one out in the fourth, though he did rack up nine strikeouts. Dan Haren shut down the Dodgers in his eight innings, allowing just a solo homerun to Matt Kemp in the fifth while fanning eight.
The Dodgers took a second loss on Saturday, but also lost Hiroki Kuroda from the game when he got bulleted by a line drive to the head in the sixth. He gave up just one run and came on for the sixth to face pinch-hitter Rusty Ryal, who knocked Kuroda out with a line-drive back to the mound on a 2-2 pitch. McDonald, Kuo, Sherrill, Broxton, and Troncoso all worked in relief for Kuroda, who was later released from the hospital on Sunday. Broxton game up back-to-back solo homeruns in the ninth to blow the save and send the game to extras. Troncoso loaded the bases with a single and two walks in the 10th and a walk-off single won it for the Dbacks.
The Dodgers scattered three runs in the game, starting with an RBI-single by Brad Ausmus in the second. Furcal scored on a wild pitch in the fifth and Mark Loretta drove in Casey Blake in the sixth with a sacfly.
Randy Wolf put up a one-man show in Sunday’s winning, striking out ten while also falling just a triple short of the cycle at the plate. He allowed just one hit until the eighth inning, but was tagged for three runs in the eighth, starting with a leadoff homerun to Rusty Ryal. He left with two outs and got the win after fanning 10 and walking none.
Wolf also went 3 for 4 with three RBI’s and two runs scored. Andre Ethier started off the offense with a three-run homerun in the first. The Dodgers then put up a four-run fourth, with a two-run homerun to both Wolf and Orlando Hudson.
The Dodgers head back home to open up a series with the Cardinals on Monday. Carpenter has recovered well after missing the first chunk of the season, posting a 12-3 record with a 2.73 ERA. The Dodgers will send Charlie Haegar to the mound for his club debut. The knuckleballer has just 10 big league starts in the past three years.
