PHOENIX _ The baseball had not yet fallen _ it was struck so hard, destined to travel quite far _ when Joc Pederson allowed his bat to take flight. It was a minor-key flip, hardly enough to distract from his titanic home run in a 6-2 Dodgers victory.
The two-run shot in Saturday's fourth inning cleared the fence in right field, the pool poured into the cement of Chase Field and even the railing on the mezzanine. The blast keyed a three-run inning as the Dodgers continued to dispatch their bottom-dwelling foes and inch closer toward a fourth consecutive division title.
Making the fifth start of his career, rookie Brock Stewart supplied five innings of two-run baseball. Arizona tagged him for a pair of solo home runs, but little else. He received a reasonable amount of support from his offense, which benefited once again from Arizona's consistently slipshod defense.
Chase Utley doubled twice. Josh Reddick recorded three hits. Corey Seager notched two hits, including a triple in the first inning, which gave him 181 hits on the season, the most by a Dodgers rookie since the team moved to Los Angeles.
With a win on Sunday, the Dodgers can finish this 10-game road trip with more victories than defeats. After dropping two of three in Miami, the Dodgers won twice at Yankee Stadium and won two of the first three games this weekend in Arizona.
Even treading water, the team has maintained control of the National League West. A three-game set with San Francisco starts at Dodger Stadium on Monday. The Dodgers could effectively end the race by capturing that series _ or they could open the door for a stunning comeback by the Giants.
The Dodgers have aligned their rotation in an attempt to remove all doubt. Clayton Kershaw will face Madison Bumgarner on Monday. Rich Hill draws Johnny Cueto on Tuesday. The series ends with Kenta Maeda dueling Matt Moore.
In the game's second at-bat, Seager deposited a hit into right field, the domain of Yasmany Tomas, Arizona's comically inept right fielder. The baseball bounced off the wall along the line. By the time Tomas had corralled it, Seager was heading to third base, and Arizona starter Shelby Miller was raising his arms in exasperation. Seager scored on a sacrifice fly by Justin Turner.
The lead did not survive the first inning. Stewart started the game with six fastballs in a row to Diamondbacks leadoff hitter Jean Segura. The first five targeted the outside of the plate. The last came inside, and Segura hooked a homer into the Arizona bullpen in left.
The Dodgers received a gift in the form of another defensive gaffe in the fourth. Adrian Gonzalez led off with a walk. Reddick dunked a single into right.
With Pederson at the plate, Arizona catcher Wellington Castillo dropped a fastball and let it trickle behind him. Both runners broke for the next bag. Castillo secured the baseball in time to peg Gonzalez at third, but his throw landed in left field.
Gonzalez jogged across the plate and Reddick took third. Pederson only needed to produce a fly ball to add another run. He provided much more.
On Thursday, Pederson decided to sport a helmet featuring a faceguard, which covered his right cheek and obscured his face. "He's experimenting," Manager Dave Roberts said.
Aesthetics swayed Pederson's decision, not science. "I thought it looked cool," he said.
By Saturday, Pederson had ditched the mask. He fouled off a pair of curveballs as the count ran full. Miller tried to stuff a fastball past Pederson's knees. Pederson unleashed his power for his 23rd home run of the season.
Stewart ran into trouble in the bottom of the inning. He struck out the first two batters, but then he fed Castillo a 92-mph fastball at the belt. Castillo clobbered a homer deep into the seats in left.
The pressure continued to build on Stewart. Tomas hit a single. Stewart walked outfielder Brandon Drury. The next batter, outfielder Mitch Haniger, hit a single into left. With two outs and the pitcher on deck, Arizona third-base coach Matt Williams decided to send Tomas home.
The baseball skipped toward Andrew Toles. He set his feet and fired a strike to catcher Carlos Ruiz. The ball beat Tomas by several feet, and Ruiz applied the rally-ending tag.
In the seventh, the Dodgers completed an unusual feat: They scored a run against a left-handed pitcher. Rob Segedin came off the bench for a leadoff walk against Arizona reliever Steve Hathaway. Up came Utley, who ripped a double into the left-field corner. As Drury searched for the baseball, Segedin came home.
