PHOENIX – Will Smith hit a late three-run homer, Shohei Ohtani added his 43rd of the season and the Los Angeles Dodgers extended their NL West lead to five games with a 10-9 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday night.
Arizona’s late-season surge set the stage for a crucial four-game series and a charged-up crowd in a rematch of last season’s NL Division Series won by the Diamondbacks.
A sold-out Chase Field got a wild show that included 10 combined runs in the first three innings, a big toe injury that knocked out Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw, a run scored on a disengagement violation and a four-run rally in the ninth inning that came up short.
“Kind of fitting to start the series off like this with a lot of electricity in the crowd,” Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman said.
Freeman did the early damage with a two-run homer in the first inning after missing three straight games to rest a fractured right middle finger. Smith gave the Dodgers a 9-5 lead in the seventh, just clearing the wall in left with his three-run shot.
Ohtani hit a solo homer in the eighth inning, doubled and had stolen base No. 43 after going 0 for 5 against Baltimore on Thursday.
“I feel like everyone was just giving their best and not not complaining about anything, just trying to go out there and get the W,” Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy said.
It still wasn’t easy.
Arizona’s Jake McCarthy hit a two-run single in the ninth and Eugenio Suarez followed with a two-run homer to cut it to 10-9. Anthony Banda got the final two outs to close it out.
Corbin Carroll also homered and for Arizona, which dropped into a tie with San Diego for the top NL wild-card spot.
“Down 10-5, the easy thing to do would be to give up and move on to tomorrow,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. “But this is a hungry team that wants to win games and knows the importance of each pitch, each inning.”
Ryan Brasier (1-0) allowed a hit in the fifth inning and Arizona’s Dylan Floro (5-4) took the loss after being replaced by Joe Mantiply, who uncorked a wild pitch for the go-ahead run.
Kershaw and Arizona’s Zac Gallen, among baseball’s best pitchers in recent years, were not sharp to kick off the series.
Gallen gave up Ohtani’s double on the game’s first pitch and the two-run homer to Freeman. The Arizona right-hander allowed three more runs in the second — on Miguel Rojas’ single, Mookie Betts’ sacrifice fly and a groundout by Freeman.
“I feel like I pitched two different games, honestly,” said Gallen, who allowed five runs on five hits and struck out seven in five innings. “I saw the guys battle on offense and did the best I could to keep us in it.”
Kershaw gave up Josh Bell’s RBI single and Suarez’s sacrifice fly in the first inning, then a leadoff homer to Carroll in the second. Kershaw left due to left big toe pain right after the homer, a lingering issue from a bone spur, according to Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. The left-hander could end up on the injured list.
Arizona scored a run in the third inning when Joe Kelly disengaged from the rubber three times in one at-bat and Jose Herrera tied it at 5-all with a run-scoring single.
TRAINER’S TABLE
Dodgers: RHP Tyler Glasnow played catch as part of his throwing program as he works his way back from right elbow tendonitis. … RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto (right triceps tightness) and Brusdar Graterol (hamstring) are both expected to throw this weekend as well.
Diamondbacks: 1B Christian Walker (oblique) and 2B Ketel Marte (ankle) are continuing to ramp up their activities and Arizona hopes both will be back in the lineup in San Francisco next week.
UP NEXT
Dodgers RHP Gavin Stone (11-5, 3.33 ERA) faces Diamondbacks RHP Merrill Kelly (4-0, 3.98) in the second game of the four-game series Saturday.
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