Justin Turner’s homer leads to Dodgers win over Diamondbacks in Game 1 of NLDS
LOS ANGELES – Justin Turner’s homer leads to Dodgers win over Diamondbacks in Game 1 of NLDS:-Breaking down Friday’s National League Division Series Game 1 between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium.
Dodgers 9, Diamondbacks 5: The Dodgers lead the series
The game: Clayton Kershaw, long belittled for failing to carry his regular-season brilliance into the playoffs, notched his first postseason victory at Dodger Stadium and Justin Turner drove in five runs to propel Los Angeles.
Kershaw’s teammates handed him an early lead and the three-time Cy Young Award winner looked sharp through the first six innings before exiting in the seventh after yielding back-to-back home runs. Of the five hits Kershaw allowed in 6 1/3 innings, four left the yard, but all came with the bases empty. It was the first time a Dodgers pitcher had ever given up four homers in a postseason game.
With the Dodgers sending their ace out at home against Arizona’s No. 3 starter, this was a game they could not afford to let get away. And indeed, the victory was never in much doubt, as the Dodgers led 7-1 after four innings.
Los Angeles wasted no time jumping on a shaky Taijuan Walker, who was making his postseason debut. The first five batters he faced went single, walk, home run, single, double, with Justin Turner’s three-run shot to left being the biggest blow.
It took Walker 38 pitches to register the first out, and by that point the Diamondbacks were down 4-0. Walker struck out three of the next four batters, but the damage was done. He did not return for the second inning.
Zack Godley, who started 25 games during the regular season, spared the Arizona bullpen from having to cover most of the game by tossing five innings. He acquitted himself well but gave up three runs in the fourth (one unearned), which made the deficit hard to overcome. Corey Seager and Turner delivered run-scoring singles in the fourth to help increase the Dodgers’ cushion to six runs.
State of the series: Los Angeles leads 1-0 and will send Rich Hill to the mound for Saturday’s Game 2. That will be the real test for the Dodgers as they face left-hander Robbie Ray, who went 3-0 with a 2.27 ERA in five starts against them this season, striking out 53 in 31 2/3 innings.
A victory behind Ray would shift the home-field advantage to the Diamondbacks, with the series moving to Chase Field on Monday, when staff ace Zack Greinke will take the ball opposite Yu Darvish.
Hill did not fare well this year against the Diamondbacks, who features a predominantly right-handed-hitting lineup. The veteran lefty went 0-3 with a 5.03 ERA in four starts, although he did strike out 24 in 19 2/3 innings.
Source:-https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2017/10/07/dodgers-diamondbacks-nl-divisional-series-game-1-kershaw-turner/742265001/
