by Megan Garcia
It took 10 runs, 10 hits and eight pitchers, but the Dodgers now sit five games ahead in the National League West.
The Dodgers beat the Diamondbacks 10–9 on Friday at Chase Field. It was a battle between two teams fighting for a spot in the postseason. For the Dodgers, it came down to nearly every arm in the bullpen after Clayton Kershaw was removed in the second inning due to left big toe pain.
“It was a battle,” Will Smith said. “Our pitchers were grinding today. We were able to grind as a team to get the win, that’s all that matters. It was a grindy win.”
Smith’s three-run homer in the seventh extended the Dodgers’ lead to 9–5. It was his first hit since Aug. 24. In the eighth, Shohei Ohtani plated Los Angeles’ final run with a homer. It gave the Dodgers a 10–5 lead.
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The Diamondbacks threatened in the ninth against Athony Banda — the last remaining reliever in the Dodger bullpen. Jake McCarthy and Eugenio Suárez drove in three runs to cut the Dodgers lead to 10–9.
“It was kind of fitting with how it ended given the way it started,” Freddie Freeman said. “I don’t think anyone envisioned a Kershaw-(Zac) Gallen game going 10–9, but huge shoutout to our bullpen for covering eight innings.”
Freeman showed he was ready to be back in the lineup despite a broken finger. He worked a 3–0 count from starter Zac Gallen before launching a fastball to left center field with a 101.8-MPH exit velocity. With Shohei Ohtani on third, Freeman’s two-run homer gave the Dodgers a 2–0 lead in the first inning.
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Arizona tied it at 2–2 in the bottom half of the first with a single and sacrifice fly. The tie was fleeting as a three-run second inning powered by Miguel Rojas, Mookie Betts and Freeman pulled the Dodgers ahead with a 5–3 lead.
The Diamondbacks responded with two runs in the third, tying the game at 5–5. Max Muncy broke the tie to give the Dodgers a 6–5 lead in the sixth by scoring on a wild pitch.
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Ohtani Makes 43/43 History
A week after joining the 40/40 club with a walk-off grand slam, Ohtani has authored a new milestone. He is the first player in Major League history to hit 43 home runs and steal 43 bases in a single season.
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He launched his 43rd homer off Paul Sewald in the eighth inning to center field. His 43rd stolen base came in the second inning, positioning him to score later in the frame.
Ohtani has 15 stolen bases without getting caught in August. It ties him with Manager Dave Roberts for the second-most in a single month by a Dodger. Roberts completed the feat in March/April 2004.
Davey Lopes set the record by going 16-for-16 on the base paths in July 1975.
Kershaw Leaves with Injury
Following Corbin Carroll’s homer to lead off the bottom of the second, Kershaw didn’t face another batter. He was removed at 27 pitches (17 strikes) due to left big toe pain.
“I really couldn’t push off of it,” Kershaw. “It’s frustrating when everything else seems to be feeling great, but no matter what I did I just couldn’t find a comfortable way to push off my toe.”
This marks Kershaw’s shortest outing of his seven starts during an injury-shortened season with one inning pitched, giving up three earned runs on three hits and one walk.
It was Kershaw’s first start against Arizona since Game 1 of the 2023 National League Division Series when the lefty recorded 1/3 inning and was tagged for six earned runs on six hits (one home run) and one walk.
The Dodgers rely on the bullpen in ‘grindy win’ was originally published in Dodger Insider on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.