PHOENIX_This is where they are. The Los Angeles Dodgers are so far ahead in the National League West that manager Dave Roberts felt it prudent to treat the seventh inning of a one-run game against a division rival as an audition stage.
In his third appearance for the team, left-hander Tony Watson failed the tryout. The trade-deadline acquisition surrendered the go-ahead grand slam to Jake Lamb in the Dodgers' 6-3 loss to Arizona on Tuesday at Chase Field.
Upstart Arizona right-hander Zack Godley stymied the Dodgers until the fourth inning, when Justin Turner fouled off a curveball, then redirected a sinker that did not sink. The one-out solo shot traveled 430 feet to straightaway center.
Next up, Cody Bellinger saw a steady diet of outside pitches. He crushed the fifth to the left-field wall for a double and scored when Logan Forsythe roped a hanging curveball back up the middle.
To begin the fifth, Yasiel Puig rapped a ball to third base and took off sprinting. He limped after reaching safely, but managed to convince Dodgers manager Dave Roberts and trainer Nate Lucero he was fit to remain in the game.
Another solo shot from the Turner, in the sixth, supplied the Dodgers' last run.
Kenta Maeda turned in his second straight successful start, both since the Dodgers acquired Japanese countryman Yu Darvish to usurp his already tenuous grasp on a postseason rotation role.
He was unscored upon until the fifth, when Chris Iannetta clubbed a solo shot to center off a slider that caught too much of the strike zone. Ketel Marte followed with a single to left. Godley batted next. When first baseman Cody Bellinger broke toward home plate to cover the inevitable bunt, Maeda inexplicably threw over to first base. The throw bounced far enough for Marte to travel to third base.
Maeda struck out Godley, lucked out on a liner back to him by David Peralta, and walked off the mound when A.J. Pollock lined out to left.
Pedro Baez replaced him for the sixth and fared worse. The Diamondbacks hit four balls hard against him. The first, off Lamb's bat, was a home run. Joc Pederson speared the second, by Paul Goldschmidt, in center. The third, by J.D. Martinez, would have been a home run if not for Yasiel Puig, who obscured the record by leaping and reaching his glove over the right-field wall to procure the ball. One last lineout, by Daniel Descalso, ended the inning.
In the seventh, the Diamondbacks found more luck. Morrow faced two batters and retired one before Watson entered, hit the first man he faced, and soon loaded the bases on an intentional walk.
With two outs, Lamb landed the winning drive just inside the right-field foul pole.
