April 13--The bag at first base was empty, extending an invitation to Dodgers reliever Chris Hatcher. He had thrown three consecutive balls to Diamondbacks first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, one of the finest hitting specimens on the planet. He could choose passivity and grant Goldschmidt a walk with the game tied in the eighth inning. Or he could attempt some version of gallantry.
Hatcher went the latter route, and his choice proved decisive in a 4-2 defeat to Arizona. He threw Goldschmidt a 96-mph fastball at the waist. Goldschmidt bashed a go-ahead home run about a dozen runs deep in left field. The pattern from the weekend in San Francisco held: Everything the relievers touched turned to ash.
Hatcher exited four batters later, having walked the bases loaded. The crowd jeered his departure but applauded Manager Dave Roberts for removing him from the game for Louis Coleman. Acquired last winter in the trade that sent Dee Gordon to Miami, Hatcher acted the temporary avatar for the public's discontent with the Dodgers' roster construction.
To salt the wound, the Diamondbacks scored twice more in the ninth inning off Coleman. Kenley Jansen warmed up during the bottom of the eighth, but with the Dodgers trailing, Roberts stuck with Coleman. Corey Seager doubled and scored in the ninth, but the deficit was too great to overcome.
The bullpen spoiled the afternoon. Pedro Baez surrendered a game-tying home run to shortstop Nick Ahmed in the seventh inning. The homer was a line drive that barely clearly the fence in left field, but it still counted. Baez cost Kenta, who threw six scoreless innings, a chance at his second victory.
After a season-opening sweep against the Padres, the Dodgers (4-4) have lost four of five. The offense sputtered throughout the game and failed to bring the crowd at Dodger Stadium to life.
The home opener offers pageantry for fans and team personnel. For the men in uniform, the day often acts as an irritant, interrupting their finely tuned schedules for on-field ceremonies. Asked in the morning about his level of excitement for the coming day, Manager Dave Roberts did not manufacture enthusiasm.
"Not to sound jaded, but not a whole lot,' he said. Then he bounded onto the field as his players took batting practice. He hugged Gary Adams, his former coach at UCLA. He joked with Yasiel Puig as a fleet of helicopters flew over the park. He grinned from the dugout as the team honored Vin Scully before the first pitch.
Once the game began, Roberts showed a glimpse of his imprimatur on the club. The Dodgers jumbled the lineup in deference to Arizona left-hander Patrick Corbin. In his career heading into Tuesday, Corbin had held left-handed hitters to a .615 on-base plus slugging percentage. So the team stacked right-handers Howie Kendrick and Trayce Thompson in the No. 5 and No.6 spots. Corey Seager, a left-handed hitter, batted seventh.
"I just love the length," Roberts said. "When you've got Corey Seager hitting seventh in a major-league lineup, that's pretty good."
Back after missing seven games with a tight calf, Kendrick smashed the first pitch he saw into right field for a single. Thompson legged out an infield single. Seager advanced Kendrick to third with a flyball.
Up came A.J. Ellis. Corbin threw a changeup down the middle. Ellis did not hesitate. He squeezed a bunt a few feet in front of the plate. The ball dribbled too far for catcher Wellington Castillo to sneak back in time to tag Kendrick. As Castillo threw Ellis out at first, Kendrick scored the game's first run.
It would be difficult for Maeda to top his debut. He tossed six scoreless innings last week and breezed through the woeful Padres lineup. In his second at-bat, he hit a home run.
The Diamondbacks limped into Dodger Stadium. The offseason acquisition of Zack Greinke and Shelby Miller heightened pressure on the team. A 2-5 start in the first week did not match the expectations. Maeda snuffed out Arizona's chance for an early advantage by tip-toeing through a jam in the second inning.
Maeda gave up a leadoff single to catcher Wellington Castillo. Castillo held at third on a double by third baseman Jake Lamb. That decision would play a role a few innings later, but for now Maeda needed to disentangle himself from this mess.
Maeda fooled outfielder Yasmany Tomas with fastballs and changeups away from a critical strikeout. The Diamondbacks had elected to bat Corbin, their pitcher, in the No. 8 spot, and Maeda induced a grounder for the second out. When Ahmed grounded out on a slider, Maeda had escaped.
He clung to a one-run lead as the sixth started. With two outs, Castillo poked a slider for a single. Lamb ripped another slider into right. Puig chased the ball as it rattled against the wall.
Castillo started the play about 270 feet from tying the game. He runs roughly at the speed of drying cement. As he chugged around the bases, Puig gathered the ball. Rather than unleash his arm, he made a measured throw to the cutoff man, third baseman Justin Turner. The relay from Turner cut down Castillo to preserve the lead -- something the bullpen could not do.
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