By Mark Carlisle

Independent Newsmedia

PHOENIX — The Diamondbacks avoided being shut out for the first time this season Wednesday but fell to the Los Angeles Dodgers at Chase Field for the first time since last year. Alex Avila’s deep fly ball to left, down one with a runner on looked like it had a chance to be a game-winner but Alex Verdugo caught it on the warning track to secure a 2-1 Dodgers victory. It was the second time the D-backs have fallen to the Dodgers in nine games this season and LA’s first regular season win at Chase Field since last August, snapping an eight-game streak. The D-backs won the first home games against LA this season. The D-backs faced a shutout while down to their last out but Daniel Descalso drew a pinch-hit walk, took second on a defensive indifference and was singled home by John Ryan Murphy to put a run on the board. However, it wasn't enough. “We battled all the way through the entire night,” D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said. “I know we had some opportunities, couldn’t come through, but until the final out we felt we had a really good chance to tie that score." The Snakes squandered several chances with runners on. National League Player of the Month for April, A.J. Pollock, with four home runs in his last two games, stepped to the plate with runners on the corners and one out in the eighth. Pollock already had a single and a double on the day, but this time a hard-hit grounder was met by a tough back-handed stop from shortstop Kike Hernandez started an inning-ending double play. “A.J. unloaded on that ball. You know, he produced the type of hit that we’re looking for in that situation, it just didn’t happen,” Lovullo said. In the fourth, Arizona loaded the bases with one out, but Devin Marrero struck out and Murphy popped out to first to kill the rally. After going 1 for 4 Wednesday, the D-backs are now hitting .202 with two outs and runners in scoring position. “Situational hitting is what really makes a difference in a lot of key games in a lot of key innings,” Lovullo said. “…It ebbs and flows throughout the course of the season. There’s good and bad times, and every once in a while you hit a little bit of a rut and a day like this it stands out. But the concern is minimal for me because I know these guys talk about it, they apply it; they’re aware of it and they’re trying to execute. It’s just a hard thing to do, probably one of the hardest things to do in baseball.” Diamondbacks starting pitcher Zack Godley watches a pitch to a Los Angeles Dodgers batter during the fifth inning Wednesday's game at Chase Field in Phoenix. [AP Photo/Matt York][/caption]D-backs starter Zack Godley killed his share of rallies on the other side. He induced three double plays, stranding a total of three runners in scoring position. “I did enough to get some huge double plays, but overall I just came up with some good pitches when I needed to,” Godley said. The Dodgers pieced together an unanticipated bullpen game after starter Hyun-Jin Ryu left in the second with a left groin strain. Lovullo pointed out the challenges of preparing for a certain pitcher and then hardly facing him, but Murphy, who had two hits off the LA bullpen, said these teams have played so much in the first month and a half of 2018, they’re familiar with the Dodger relievers pretty well, too. Godley gave up one run in six innings for the D-backs, allowing five hits and three walks and striking out five. He falls to 4-2. Daniel Hudson (1-0) got the win for LA. Kenley Jansen, the only one of five Dodger relievers to allow a run, earned his fourth save. The loss also puts the D-backs’ series victory streak at least on hold. However, they’ll have another chance Thursday as the four-game series wraps up to become the second team in major league history to start a season with 10 straight series wins. They would join the 1907 Chicago Cubs, who won their first 11. The D-backs have yet to lose back-to-back games this season. “We’re going to play nine innings and you’re going to have to play a pretty good nine innings to beat us,” Murphy said. Verdugo scored both Dodger runs after doubling in the first and eighth. The D-backs eight-game streak against LA at Chase Field was the longest in the team’s history. It excludes the Dodgers’ postseason victory at Chase Field last October, which capped a sweep of the NLDS.

Up Next

The D-backs will send red-hot lefty Patrick Corbin (4-0) to the mound for Thursday's 12:40 start to face LA lefty Alex Wood (0-3). The D-backs will wear purple throwback jerseys for "Throwback Thursday."

Stadium uncertainty

Wednesday’s game was played after news that will call into question the D-backs future at Chase Field. The team reached an agreement with the Maricopa County Stadium District before the game Wednesday that will allow the D-backs the immediate right to explore rebuilding Chase Field or moving to another site. (Read more here.)