ARI@LAD: Ellis makes a diving catch behind the plate
LOS ANGELES — After 10 minutes of talking to Los Angeles reporters Wednesday morning, Shane Victorino cut the media session short to head into the clubhouse to try on his new Dodgers uniform.
“I only want to win,” Victorino said as he left the dugout. “I didn’t come to lose.”
Well, as they say, you don’t always get what you want, which was the case for Victorino in his home debut as the newest Dodgers outfielder went hitless in L.A.’s 4-0 loss to the D-backs.
After sweeping the Giants in San Francisco, the Dodgers were swept at home by the D-backs, who won their sixth straight against L.A.
The two-horse race in the National League West suddenly has a new competitor, as the third-place D-backs sit only 1 1/2 games behind the second-place Dodgers, looking more and more like the team that won the division last season. Or maybe it was just the Dodgers, who were flat for the second straight day with the Trade Deadline in the books.
The four players they added were supposed to make the difference in the NL West, but on Wednesday they all had a day to forget.
Victorino went 0-for-4 in the leadoff spot, Hanley Ramirez went 0-for-2 with a walk and a hit by pitch (he went 0-for-10 overall in his first home series), Brandon League gave up a hit to the first batter he faced, and Randy Choate allowed that baserunner to score when he served up a home run to Miguel Montero in the eighth.
The Dodgers mustered only two hits total and didn’t have a single baserunner after a Jerry Hairston walk led off the fourth inning. What was supposed to be a revamped, dynamic offense with Victorino and Ramirez looked helpless against Patrick Corbin, a rookie starter.
The scoring started with a single by Montero in the second that brought home Paul Goldschmidt, who led off the inning with a single and advanced to second on a spectacular diving grab by catcher A.J. Ellis on Justin Upton’s bunt attempt.
Goldschmidt finished the series hitting 8-for-12 with four runs, five RBIs and two homers.
That run was all the D-backs would need, but they tacked on three more on a pair of homers by Chris Johnson and Montero for good measure. Arizona hit six homers during the series sweep.
Stephen Fife (74 pitches total) was removed with one out in the fifth, a runner on first and Goldschmidt at the plate. Javy Guerra came in to replace the young righty and he went on to pitch a scoreless 2 2/3 innings, a career high.
Alex Angert is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
