The Los Angeles Dodgers swept the Arizona Diamondbacks in the NLDS.
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Dodgers right fielder Yasiel Puig, hitting in the No. 8 spot, had another productive performance with three hits and two RBIs.
The Dodgers’ batters exercised supreme discipline, laying off Zack Greinke’s pitches out of the zone to send the Diamondbacks star’s pitch count soaring.
Cody Bellinger is going to be the unanimous victor of the N.L. Rookie of the Year award. From the fifth inning on the Dodger bullpen allowed just one hit and struck out four.
Austin Barnes solo home run in the sixth. He is 1-2 in four starts against the Dodgers, posting a 3.65 ERA across 24 2/3 innings with 24 strikeouts and 10 walks.
State of the series: By taking a 2-0 series lead, the Dodgers are guaranteed no worse than a Game 5 at home, with staff ace Clayton Kershaw waiting to take the ball. But just like in Game 1, when Chicago was held hitless into the sixth by Stephen Strasburg, the World Series champion Cubs showed off their resilience on the way to a stirring victory.
The Dodgers would take a 2-0 lead add a run in the fifth inning on a Bellinger solo shot to left center. The D-backs replaced Greinke with LHP Jorge De La Rosa. Hernandez was able to escape the jam by getting Darvish to ground out and striking out Taylor. Darvish (1-0) gave up one run and struck out seven in five-plus innings to send the Dodgers to the NLCS against the victor of the Chicago Cubs-Washington Nationals series.
But most of their do-or-die game Monday against the Dodgers felt lopsided in Los Angeles’ favor.
“It tells you that this team is prepared”, said Forsythe, who scored three runs in the second playoff game of his career.
“We’ve got a lot of good players, and a lot of depth”, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.
So why couldn’t the D-Backs continue that success in the postseason?
A quick 1-2-3 inning by Morrow in the bottom half of the seventh was followed by a 1-2-3 inning of his own by Bradley.
The Dodgers tinkered with Darvish’s mechanics after the trade, and he was masterful through most of the night, mixing a 98 miles per hour fastball with his deep repertoire of offspeed pitches. Arizona has won six of the last 10 meetings, but the Dodgers have won the most important two with their wins in this series.
Game 4 of the best-of-five series is Tuesday. They come out with a chip on their shoulder, and they want to get the job done.
That’s reigning NL Rookie of the Year Corey Seager, who also finished third in MVP voting.
With the D-Backs facing elimination, Monday’s Game 3 is obviously extremely important.
Then the celebration began, the Dodgers stormed into the clubhouse where the champagne was waiting on ice.
“He’s got exceptional stuff, and he made it very tough on us tonight, ” Lovullo said. They were already soaked with celebratory beer and sparkling wine. The Dodgers received help from the usual sources, as well as from unlikely ones.
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CHICAGO – Anthony Rizzo delivered a go-ahead, two-out RBI single in the eighth inning as Chicago beat Washington to take a 2-1 lead in the National League Division Series.
