The Dodgers came into Saturday night's game in Arizona looking to get back on track from dropping a 10-inning affair the night before. They had Clayton Kershaw on the mound, and they were facing a kid making his MLB debut. A lot to like, right?
Um, no.
Kershaw was hit all over the place, the offense put up a pathetic two hits, and two third basemen left in a matter of minutes as the Diamondbacks rolled to an easy 6-0 victory.
Just how ugly was it? Let's take a look:
* Kershaw couldn't get it going the entire night. He gave up single runs in the first and third, and a couple runs in the fourth and seventh. His location was all over the place, and the DBacks' hitters didn't miss their chances to exploit those mistakes. Plus, he gave up 10 hits. You want to know the last time he's given up double-digit hits? October 18... of 2013! Yes, that was the infamous Game 6 shellacking at the hands of Cardinals in the NLCS (not to be confused with last year's beatdown in the NLDS).
* The offensive highlights were a double by Howie Kendrick in the fourth, and a single by Adrian Gonzalez in the ninth. That's it.
* The only threat to score came after Kendrick's double in the fourth, which moved A-Gon to third from his walk. Andre Ethier got the start for Yasiel Puig in right, and he did was Ethier does best... strikeout and prove why he shouldn't be starting in the first place. Pinch-hitter Alex Guerrero grounded out to end the threat.
* As I said, Puig was mercifully given the night off, as he's done a big pile of nothing so far this year. With the right-handed Archie Bradley on the mound, Don Mattingly went with the lefty Ethier over the righty Scott Van Slyke. It didn't work, as Ethier only drew a walk and nothing else. Can we just trade him and get it over with already?
* The top two hitters in Jimmy Rollins and Carl Crawford went 0-for-8.
* Joc Pederson struck out all three times, putting him at .176 (3-for-17) for the year. Add it all up between this year and last, and he's 7-for-45 for a .156 AVG. Yes, it's a small sample size, but he's been completely overmatched so far.
* Justin Turner started at third for Juan Uribe, and had to leave when he got spiked on his left index finger attempting to tag a guy out stealing (a play in which he dropped the ball, giving the DBacks another out). Right after that, Uribe came in, then just as fast went back out with a tight hamstring. It wasn't pretty.
* Hey, at least Juan Nicasio looked good, striking out two over a perfect 1 2/3 innings.
Now the Dodgers hand the ball to Zack Greinke, who pitched very well in his first start but received a no-decision. It's WAY too early to say this is "must win." But, considering the DBacks are regarded as potential cellar dwellers in the NL West, getting swept by them would sting at least a little bit.
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