ARI@LAD: Ellis belts a solo home run to left field
LOS ANGELES — On Tuesday, the Dodgers managed only five hits en route to an 8-2 loss to the D-backs. The offensive help will come on Wednesday when Shane Victorino makes his Los Angeles debut. The pitching concerns are another story, as the front office was unable to land the frontline starter it was looking to add before the Trade Deadline.
Judging by the last two games, general manager Ned Colletti’s work may not be done, despite the Deadline passing.
After Aaron Harang gave up a three-run homer and a grand slam on Monday, Chris Capuano served up a pair of big homers on Tuesday. Paul Goldschmidt hit a two-run shot in the first inning — his second in as many days — and Miguel Montero took Capuano deep in the sixth with two on. After an All-Star-worthy start to the season, Capuano has gone 1-5 in his last seven starts.
The veteran left-hander gave up six hits and five runs in six innings. He was coming off his worst start of the year, in which he surrendered a season-high 11 hits and six earned runs in 4 1/3 innings against the Cardinals. Capuano’s ERA his jumped from 2.81 to 3.33 over his last two outings.
He pitched well at times on Tuesday, but couldn’t get out of the first and sixth innings despite getting two quick outs. In the first, he walked Jason Kubel before Goldschmidt hit his 15th home run of the season into the left-field stands. In the sixth, he gave up back-to-back singles to Goldschmidt and Justin Upton to bring up Montero, who gave Arizona a 5-1 lead. The D-backs tacked on three more in the ninth when the game appeared out of reach.
While the Dodgers and Giants stole the headlines on Tuesday by adding a pair of All-Star outfielders from the Phillies, the D-backs stayed pat right before the Deadline and opted not to make the major deal they were rumored to have in the works. With the win, Arizona moved to within 2 1/2 games of Los Angeles, which dropped a game behind the division-leading Giants.
Coming off an emotional sweep of San Francisco and an exciting week that featured four new players added to the team, the Dodgers’ product on the field was lacking for the second straight game. Manager Don Mattingly said on Monday this could be a trap series for his team, and it has proved to be just that.
Mark Ellis hit a solo home run, his fourth of the season, in the first inning, but the Dodgers couldn’t do any more damage until the ninth, when the game was already out of reach.
Alex Angert is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
