Arizona Diamondbacks’ late rally snuffed out as Dodgers take 1st game of key 4-game set

The Diamondbacks spent all Friday night coming from behind against the rival Dodgers, but came up just a run short in the bottom of the ninth inning in their 10-9 loss in the opener of a four-game series between two of baseball’s top teams.

A four-run rally in their final at-bats of the night had the big crowd on its feet at the end, But after giving up a two-run single to Jake McCarthy and a two-run home run to Eugenio Suarez, Dodgers reliever Anthony Banda, a former Diamondback, got the final two outs to send the Diamondbacks to their third loss in the past four games.

Corbin Carroll popped out and Luis Guillorme flied out to left field to end the game.

The Diamondbacks (76-59) can’t take over first place by the time the series is over, now trailing Los Angeles by five games in the NL West.

Late-inning home runs by Will Smith and Shohei Ohtani were critical. With the Dodgers up 6-5, Smith launched a three-run home run to left field off Arizona’s Paul Sewald, giving the Dodgers a three-run lead.

Then Ohtani came up with two outs in the top of the eighth and Sewald still on the mound, and hammered a 93 mph fastball over the wall in left-center field to make it 10-5.

Los Angeles burned through eight pitchers, including starter Clayton Kershaw, who left the game with a big toe injury without getting an out in the second inning. The Dodgers led 2-0 and 5-2, only to have the Diamondbacks battle back to tie the score at 5 after three innings.

With his team down 6-5 and two on base, Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo turned to Sewald, who is trying to regain the closer role he lost about a month ago.

Sewald got one out before Smith came up to bat and took him deep.

Ohtani’s 43rd home run of the season was the difference in the Dodgers’ ninth win in their past 11 games.

Zac Gallen somehow made it through five innings in his start for the Diamondbacks. Former Dodger Dylan Floro (5-4) took the loss.

Los Angeles (81-54) moved to five games ahead of both the Diamondbacks and San Diego Padres in the National League West.

-Jose M. Romero

Dodgers’ Ohtani records 43rd home run of season

Shohei Ohtani blasted the second homer in as many innings off Diamondbacks reliever Paul Sewald, adding to the Dodgers’ lead on Friday night. They lead the Diamondbacks, 10-5, after, 7 1/2 innings at Chase Field.

Ohtani’s homer came on a 0-2 pitch. Sewald fired a 93 mph fastball over the heart of the plate. Ohtani drove it out to the opposite field.

Will Smith’s homer extends Dodgers lead

Will Smith’s three-run homer off reliever Paul Sewald extended the Dodgers’ lead in the top of the seventh, and they took a 9-5 lead over the Diamondbacks into the bottom of the seventh on Friday night at Chase Field.

The Dodgers had two on and one out when Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo went to Sewald in place of reliever Joe Mantiply. Sewald quickly recorded the second out of the inning, getting Enrique Hernandez to fly to right, then got to two strikes on Smith.

But with the count 2-2, Smith turned on an inside fastball and hit it four rows deep in left field.

The Dodgers had taken the lead an inning earlier when Mantiply threw a wild pitch to allow Max Muncy to score from third, making it 6-5.

—Nick Piecoro

DBacks rally to tie for second time vs. Dodgers

The Diamondbacks took advantage of veteran reliever Joe Kelly’s struggles and have pulled even at 5 through five innings.

Kelly couldn’t make it out of the third inning despite inducing a double play. A disengagement violation on a pickoff attempt allowed Josh Bell to score from third base, and Corbin Carroll scored on José Herrera’s two-out single to tie the score.

It took another sliding catch in shallow left field by the Dodgers’ Teoscar Hernandez to keep the Diamondbacks from taking the lead.

Alex Vesia finished the third inning for the Dodgers and pitched a 1-2-3 fourth.

Gallen rallied, delivering a perfect fifth, striking out Gavin Lux and Hernandez along the way, but the fourth L.A. pitcher, Ryan Brasier, shut down the Diamondbacks in the bottom of the inning. He allowed a Jake McCarthy bunt single but induced a double-play grounder from Eugenio Suarez and a flyout from Carroll.

—Jose M. Romero

Plenty of offense early in Diamondbacks-Dodgers opener

It’s a charged atmosphere at Chase Field Friday night, with a great many Dodgers fans in the crowd and a lot of Diamondbacks fans trying to make themselves heard. Both teams scored twice in their first time at bat, but of more concern for the Diamondbacks is how the Dodgers have scored five runs through two innings against ace Zac Gallen.

It was the Dodgers who struck first, with leadoff man and MVP candidate Shohei Ohtani hitting the first pitch of the game for a double off Gallen. One out later, Freddie Freeman connected for a two-run home run just out of the reach of Arizona left fielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr.

Gallen escaped with the two runs allowed, and the Diamondbacks answered with a run on two singles and a walk off Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw. Geraldo Perdomo led off with a double and came home from third base on Josh Bell’s bloop single with one out, making the score 2-1.

Kershaw loaded the bases when he hit Jake McCarthy with a pitch, and Eugenio Suarez was robbed of a base hit on a sliding catch in left field by Teoscar Hernandez. The Dodgers got a double play out of it, but Gurriel came home while Josh Bell was thrown out at second base for not getting back to it after the fly ball out.

The Dodgers broke the deadlock in a big way with three runs off Gallen in the top of the second. Three straight singles followed by Gallen hitting Ohtani in the elbow with a pitch, then a sacrifice fly for Mookie Betts and a Freeman ground out gave the Dodgers a 5-2 lead.

The Dodgers have pitching issues of their own. Kershaw, who was the ace of the Dodgers for years, was pulled from the game in the bottom of the second after he gave up Corbin Carroll’s solo home run high and deep to right field.

Joe Kelly is now in to pitch for the Dodgers in a 5-3 game.

—Jose M. Romero

Big crowds expected for Diamondbacks-Dodgers series

With some rare exceptions, a late-season series with the Los Angeles Dodgers would often be cause for concern for the Diamondbacks and their fan base. But after the events of last October, that seems to have changed.

The Diamondbacks, who swept the Dodgers in the division series last postseason, seemed to be eagerly anticipating the teams’ latest series, which began Friday night at Chase Field. So are the fan bases.

Several hours before the first pitch, the Diamondbacks were expecting a crowd of more than 45,000 for Friday night’s opener, with crowds of at least 48,000 on Saturday, 40,000 on Sunday, and 35,000 on Monday anticipated the rest of the series.

“I feel like it’s going to start to feel like the playoffs again this series,” Diamondbacks outfielder Corbin Carroll said Friday. “Today and tomorrow, especially. I’m excited for the turnout.

“I feel like these series, in the past, used to be really dominated by Dodgers fans showing up. It seemed like during the playoffs we saw our fans really hold their own and sort of brush their fans off. It was cool.”

The Diamondbacks had won five of nine games against the Dodgers this year, entering Friday, putting them in position to post their first winning season against them since 2018. Over the previous five seasons, the Diamondbacks have gone just 23-57 — a .288 winning percentage — against the Dodgers.

The rivalry seemed to be transformed last October when the Diamondbacks won a pair of games in dominant fashion at Dodger Stadium, then completed the three-game sweep with a win at Chase Field.

“I think the easy answer is it’s just gotten more competitive,” Carroll said. “They’ve always been that juggernaut in our division and I think we’ve started to play them pretty well these last couple years. They’re definitely games that I look forward to and I think our fans do, as well.”

The Diamondbacks entered the series four games back of the Dodgers in the National League West.

There are no misconceptions about the anticipated makeup of this weekend’s crowds — everyone expects a lot of Dodgers blue — but the Diamondbacks are hopeful it will look more like Game 3 of the division series, when it was more pro-Arizona than the usual even split.

“Our fans brought it last postseason, and for a large portion of this season, especially early on, we were feeling their love and support,” manager Torey Lovullo said. “When they’re here, they make a difference.”

—Nick Piecoro

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts talks big series

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was thinking about the Diamondbacks’ sweep of the Dodgers in last season’s National League Division Series as L.A. opened a key four-game series with Arizona Friday.

Several Dodgers were on the team that couldn’t stop the hot-hitting Diamondbacks last October.

“Disappointing is certainly an understatement how it ended,” Roberts said. “This is sort of the scene of the crime last year, so it’s very fresh in my mind.

“Although there’s some different pieces to this ball club, a lot of the same guys are still here that felt the pain of last year. This is a big series, and we all say that all day. But when you’re playing a division rival that’s trailing and that’s on the come, it’s a big series. … I have every bit of confidence that we’ll go out there and play good and win baseball games.”

The Dodgers had star first baseman Freddie Freeman in the lineup for the first time in four games. Freeman suffered a fractured finger a couple of weeks ago and attempted to play through it, but struggled at the plate and was taken out of the everyday batting order.

Roberts said his veteran-laden team is ready.

“I don’t think the moment is going to be too big,” he said. “I think they’re going to embrace it, and it makes it fun for everyone to be in this type of environment.”

—Jose M. Romero

Ketel Marte, Christian Walker injury updates

Second baseman Ketel Marte and first baseman Christian Walker continue to make progress in their injury recoveries, but both players appear unlikely to return from the injured list when rosters expand Sunday, manager Torey Lovullo said.

“Everybody’s intensity is ramping up a little bit,” Lovullo said.

Both Marte (ankle) and Walker (oblique) took at-bats on Thursday off the Trajekt Arc, a high-tech pitching machine that simulates at-bats against specific major league pitchers, and Lovullo said there was a live batting practice session on Friday.

“Walker hit a long home run in his live ABs,” Lovullo said. “All the intensity is starting to ramp up and that’s by design.”

However, Lovullo said it “might be a little bit premature” to expect either player to be active Sunday, when rosters expand to 28 at the start of September.

As for what happens to first baseman Josh Bell when Walker returns, Lovullo said Bell will remain an active participant.

“He’ll play against every left-handed pitcher, that’s for sure, and then select right-handed pitchers, select opportunities,” Lovullo said. “He’s going to play. He’s definitely going to play. He’s not going to go back to the bench.”

Lovullo said Walker likely will have to ease back into everyday action once he returns from the injured list, which will also open up opportunities for Bell.

—Nick Piecoro

Saturday’s Diamondbacks-Dodgers pitching matchup

Dodgers at Diamondbacks, 5:10 p.m., Cox, Ch. 34

5:10 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Merrill Kelly (4-0, 3.98) vs. Dodgers RHP Gavin Stone (11-5, 3.33).

At Chase Field: Kelly is 2-0 with a 2.28 ERA, 0.80 WHIP and 19 strikeouts in four home starts this season. He has allowed two runs or fewer in five of his seven starts this season. Opponents are batting .236 against him this season. In regular-season games, Kelly is 0-11 in his career against the Dodgers with a 5.49 ERA. But he did win Game 1 of the National League Division Series last October at Dodger Stadium. Stone has been a key addition to a Dodgers starting rotation riddled with injuries this season. The 24-year-old has allowed just two earned runs on eight hits combined in his past three starts. He has 23 strikeouts in those three games in 19 innings of work. One of his losses this season came to the Diamondbacks on May 21 at Dodger Stadium, when he allowed four earned runs on eight hits in six innings.

Coming up

Sunday: At Chase Field, 1:10 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Brandon Pfaadt (8-7, 4.31) vs. Dodgers TBA.

Monday: At Chase Field, 1:10 p.m., Diamondbacks LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (2-0, 5.06) vs. Dodgers RHP Jack Flaherty (10-6, 3.07).

Tuesday: At San Francisco, 6:45 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Ryne Nelson (9-6, 4.22) vs. Giants RHP Hayden Birdsong (3-4, 5.14).