Dodgers' sweep comes gift-wrapped, but they'll take it
DODGERS 5, ARIZONA 3
Misplays by Arizona contribute to decisive runs in eighth inning, and Jonathan Broxton gets last five outs for L.A.'s third consecutive win over Diamondbacks, and eighth straight overall.
The same baseball gods who were mocking the Dodgers not so long ago are smiling down on them now.
The Dodgers moved 1½ games ahead of Arizona in the National League West by completing a three-game sweep of the Diamondbacks with a 5-3 victory today at Dodger Stadium, the game-deciding runs scored with the aid of some shaky defense by the visitors. The victory was the eighth in a row for the Dodgers, who were 4½ games back of Arizona nine days ago.
The Dodgers broke a 3-3 stalemate with a two-run seventh inning in which Blake DeWitt led off with a double to left-center. Diamondbacks first baseman Adam Dunn fell while trying to field a sacrifice bunt by Angel Berroa, putting men on the corners.
DeWitt scored on Nomar Garciaparra's sacrifice fly to right field that was caught by Justin Upton, who dropped the ball while transferring it from his glove to his throwing hand. Berroa took advantage of the error to advance to second, reached third on a groundout by Russell Martin and put the Dodgers up by two runs when Arizona shortstop Stephen Drew bobbled Andre Ethier's sharply-hit ground ball. Ethier barely beat Drew's throw to first for what was ruled an infield single.
The Dodgers went ahead, 2-0, in the first inning on a two-run single by first baseman James Loney, but the Diamondbacks scored in the second, third and fourth innings off Clayton Kershaw to go up, 3-2.
Kershaw lasted only four innings. He was charged with three runs and six hits.
The Dodgers tied the score at 3-3 in the sixth, when Loney hit a sacrifice fly that scored Ethier.
Diamondbacks starter Max Scherzer struck out 11 in five-plus innings. Scherzer, who was charged with three runs and five hits, struck out the side in the fourth and fifth innings.
Jonathan Broxton struck out three in 1 2/3 innings to pick up the save.
The Dodgers survived a ninth-inning scare, as the Diamondbacks put men on first and second with two outs. Conor Jackson lined a ball that appeared headed to right field, but Garciaparra -- who'd moved from third base to first in the eighth when Loney was removed in a double-switch -- made a diving catch to end the game.
