Dodgers complete 3-game sweep of Diamondbacks in Merrill Kelly’s return
Sep 15, 2021, 11:06 PM | Updated: 11:13 pm
Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Merrill Kelly (29) throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2021, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
(AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Julio Urías earned his major league-leading 18th victory, Gavin Lux singled in the go-ahead run in the fourth and the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-3 on Wednesday night to complete a 6-0 homestand.
The Dodgers pounded out 14 hits in winning their sixth straight overall and ninth in a row at home, where they are 52-23, tops in the majors.
Lux went 2 for 4 and drove in two runs. Max Muncy went 2 for 5, drove in a run and scored another.
Urías became the fourth Mexican-born pitcher in the majors to record 18 or more wins in a season. Dodgers legend Fernando Valenzuela and Esteban Loaiza did it twice each and Teddy Higuera once.
Urías (18-3) allowed two runs and three hits in five innings, struck out five and walked two as the Dodgers improved to 23-6 in his 29 starts. The left-hander retired nine of his first 10 batters and didn’t give up a hit until Christian Walker’s single in the fourth.
Kenley Jansen struck out the side in the ninth to earn his 33rd save and 12th in a row.
Using Albert Pujols’ bat for the second straight night, Muncy got the same result: a homer. He blasted his 34th of the season in the fifth, extending the Dodgers’ lead to 4-2. He hugged Pujols in the dugout.
The D-backs closed to 4-3 on Walker’s solo shot off Phil Bickford’s first pitch in the sixth.
The Dodgers answered in the bottom of the inning to go up 5-3. Trea Turner legged out an infield single, scoring pinch-hitter Matt Beaty, who was hit by a pitch.
Arizona led 2-1 in the fourth on Henry Ramos’ two-run single.
The Dodgers took a 3-2 lead in the fourth. Cody Bellinger grounded out to short, scoring Justin Turner, who singled. Lux singled in the go-ahead run. He had a bases-loaded RBI single in the second.
Merrill Kelly (7-10) gave up four runs and 10 hits in 4.2 innings after being out a month because of a positive test for COVID-19. The right-hander struck out one and walked two.
TRAINER’S ROOM
D-backs LHP Tyler Gilbert went on the IL with elbow fatigue. He’ll go back to Arizona to be evaluated. … 1B Seth Beer (dislocated left shoulder) worked in the batting cage. He’ll be re-evaluated and a decision on the injured list hasn’t been made. … OF Kole Calhoun (strained left hamstring) took batting practice and will play in an Arizona League game Thursday.
FANS ON FIELD
A man and a woman carrying signs and wearing blue shirts with the words “Free our kids. Abolish ICE” written on the back ran onto the field from the lower right-field seats in the top of the seventh. Eventually, they were each tackled by security. At the same time, a third person carrying a sign in the left-field corner was taken down on the warning track.
GREAT CATCH
A leaping Ramos picked off Mookie Betts’ fly ball at the top of the wall in left and crashed to the ground with the ball securely in his glove to end the fourth. Kelly raised both arms in appreciation on the mound.
UP NEXT
D-backs LHP Madison Bumgarner (7-10, 4.66 ERA) starts Friday at Houston in pursuit of his first road win since July 28 at Texas.
