New-look Dodgers gets smoked by DBacks

This is probably not the best way to make a first impression.

On a day where all four of the new acquisitions got into the game, the Diamondbacks once again played longball in dismantling the Dodgers, 4-0.  The Dodgers returned home from a 7-3 roadtrip only to drop three straight, getting outscored 19-4.  Ouch.

The Diamondbacks struck in the second.  Well, that's probably not much of a surprise considering they were the only team that scored.  Anyway, Dodger-killer Peter Goldschmidt singled leading off.  Justin Upton popped up a bunt into foul territory in which A.J. Ellis made a great sprawling catch.  Goldschmidt smartly tagged to second, and came around to score on Miguel Montero's RBI single.

Chris Johnson hit a grand slam in his DBacks' debut the other night, and he added to that with a solo home run in the fourth, and it was 2-0.

Stephen Fife got chased in the fifth as the DBacks loaded the bases, but couldn't score.  After Jason Kubel walked with one out, Don Mattingly already called upon Javy Guerra.  It wasn't pretty at first, as Goldschmidt was plunked on the first pitch and Upton singled.  Montero grounded into a double play to keep it only a two-run game.

Not that it mattered because the Dodgers didn't get a hit after the second inning.  Kind of sad when one of your two hits is by the starting pitcher.  It was pretty boring to say the least.

The DBacks put the finishing touches on this one in the eighth.  Brandon League made his Dodger debut and gave up an infield hit to Goldschmidt before Upton forced him at second.  Randy Choate came in to get the lefty Montero... only to watch him crush a two-run homer to dead center, making it 4-0.

Fife wasn't awful, but he certainly wasn't sharp either.  He only pitched 4 1/3 innings for six hits, two runs, three walks, and two strikeouts.  He threw 74 pitches and didn't even make it out of the fifth.  That's way too many baserunners and way too many pitches.  He's very lucky he only gave up two runs.

The downside is that, again, it needs to be pointed out that coming out of the trade deadline, the starting rotation was only made thinner with Nathan Eovaldi's departure, and not stronger with Ryan Dempster's deal never happening.  So, watching the starts from Aaron Harang, Chris Capuano, and Fife the last three days have certainly done nothing to quiet critics of Ned Colletti for failing to add an arm.

I don't think we should expect too much from Fife, who was only making his third career start.  Like I said before, it's not like he got killed, he just let too many hitters reach base.  Ted Lilly is still a little bit away from returning, so Fife will get more chances.  Let's see how he responds to his first blemish.

Shane Victorino played left and hit leadoff, which is what he'll be doing from here on out.  He made a couple of nice catches in left, but went 0-for-4 with a strikeout.  A couple of his outs were hit hard if you're looking for something positive, at least.  Even with this bad first game, I still would much rather see him established at the top than anyone else.  Give it some time.

I'm sure League and Choate aren't feeling too good about giving up a couple runs in the eighth, as that only added to the misery that was this series.  Two relievers who did do very well were Guerra and Jansen.  Guerra had a shaky start, but ended up tossing 2 2/3 scoreless innings to keep the Dodgers within a couple.  Jansen pitched a perfect ninth with a couple of K's.

Mattingly put it perfectly when he referred to this as a "trap series."  He's completely right.  Think about it: the Dodgers won 7 of 10 on the road and very well could have won more, they were fresh off a sweep of the hated Giants to regain a tie for first place, and they were returning home for a nine-game homestand.  The DBacks didn't care about any of that, as they pitched and flexed their muscle right back into the thick of things in the NL West.  Now they have everyone's attention.

All the Dodgers can do brush off this series and start a new streak, hopefully on the positive side.  Next up is a three game set with the Cubs starting Friday.  Chad Billingsley is on the mound against former Notre Dame wide receiver Jeff Samardzjia.