PHOENIX _ On a night when the Los Angeles Dodgers began restocking their farm system with two first-round picks Monday, they rode two first-rounders of yesteryear to a 3-1 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field.
Walker Buehler, taken in the first round in 2015, limited Arizona to one run on two hits over eight innings, and Corey Seager, a first-round pick in 2012, slugged a three-run home run as the Dodgers (42-19) extended their winning streak to six games.
Buehler mowed through the Diamondbacks (30-31) for four innings, retiring the first 12 batters he faced to carry a no-hitter into the fifth. He secured the inning's first two outs before the perfect game, no-hitter and shutout vanished with one swat from Christian Walker. The Diamondbacks first baseman cracked a 98-mph fastball up and over the plate to center field for his 11th home run.
Otherwise, Buehler was dominant. He didn't surrender another hit until Idelmaro Vargas smacked a single with two outs in the eighth inning. The 24-year-old right-hander completed his night by striking out Carson Kelly on his 102nd pitch. He finished with a season-high 11 punchouts to zero walks. It was his best start of the season, reminiscent of the potential he displayed down the stretch last summer.
Kenley Jansen relieved Buehler in the ninth inning and worked around a double to record his 18th save.
On the other side, the Dodgers, who were without Cody Bellinger and Max Muncy, encountered a familiar adversary in Robbie Ray, a left-hander with a 2.82 earned-run average in 16 career starts against them. Except for the fourth inning, Ray matched Buehler. But that one inning was costly. Ray gave up a single to Justin Turner before David Freese worked a walk, bringing up Seager. The Dodgers shortstop worked the count full and fouled off another pitch before launching a 92-mph fastball over the wall in left-center field.
The home run, Seager's eighth this season, continued his upward trend. Entering Monday, the 25-year-old was batting .290 with four home runs and a .945 on-base-plus-slugging percentage in 17 games since May 14. Until then, he was batting an uncharacteristic .227 six weeks into the season coming off Tommy John surgery and a hip procedure.
Seager's home run was the only damage the Dodgers inflicted on Ray. The left-hander held Los Angeles to three runs on six hits over seven innings. He struck out nine and walked one. But Buehler was better and the Dodgers, behind a couple of recent high-profile draft picks, continued their assault on the National League.
