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Diamondbacks Drop Five to the Dodgers

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It was another successful weekend in Phoenix for the Los Angeles Dodgers, who ran their record versus the Arizona Diamondbacks to a perfect 5-0. The victory gave the Dodgers a 9-4 record and first place in the National League West. The loss sent the reeling Diamondbacks to 4-11 and last place in the division. For a season that started with big expectations, the Diamondbacks have the look of a potential 90 loss team. With the San Francisco Giants having the look of contenders once again the Diamondbacks will face an uphill battle in the division. The Diamondbacks have the New York Mets coming into town, with three must-win games before they head back to Los Angeles to face the Dodgers in a critical weekend series. If the Diamondbacks struggles, continue manager Kirk Gibson may find himself on the hot seat.

The three-game sweep was marked by solid pitching by the Dodgers, specifically Hyun-Jin Ryu, and an offensive tear by first baseman Adrian Gonzalez. The Dodgers first baseman hit another home run on Sunday, a tape measure shot, giving him five on the season. Gonzalez has now hit twenty-seven home runs at Chase Field, tops among visiting players. Gonzalez, in a performance that will surely win him National League Player of the Week, hit three home runs and drove in ten during the weekend series. The Dodgers outscored the Diamondbacks 22-11 over the three-game series.

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The Dodgers roughed up the Diamondbacks pitching staff, a common occurrence this season. After losing Patrick Corbin to Tommy John surgery during spring training the Diamondbacks are moving forward without their ace. Fellow starters Wade Miley and Trevor Cahill have been pedestrian at best, leaving a huge hole in the Diamondbacks rotation. The Diamondbacks pitching struggles are confounded by the fact that they traded young left-hander Tyler Skaggs to the Los Angeles Angels as part of the Mark Trumbo trade. A move designed to add power to the roster, Trumbo’s acquisition came at a high cost. The Diamondbacks traded two of their top three prospects, Adam Eaton and Skaggs for Trumbo. The big power hitter had a strong start to the season before cooling off over the weekend. He has tremendous power numbers but is a marginal player at best on defense. Eaton is off to a strong start in Chicago, hitting .354 with nine runs batted in, while Skaggs has put together two solid starts with the Angels, giving up just four earned runs in fifteen innings pitched. Arizona then traded third base prospect, Matt Davidson, off to a strong start in Chicago, for White Sox closer Addison Reed. Reed is a solid young closer, but in the long run giving up Davidson may turn out to be a mistake.

The moves were predicated on the belief that the Diamondbacks are a contender this season, a belief held by GM Kevin Towers and the rest of the Diamondbacks front office. The truth is the Diamondbacks are at best a .500 team (which they have been each of the past two seasons), who just lost their top starting pitcher. With an inconsistent batting lineup, a middle-of-the-road starting rotation and a league average at best bullpen the Diamondbacks could be in for a long season. This past weekend was another reminder of the uphill battle the club continues to face in Phoenix. The weekend crowds were large, but that included a massive number of Dodgers fans. Judging by the applause of the fans it is hard to tell at times who the home team was.

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Arizona will head to Los Angeles next weekend needing to turn things around versus the Dodgers. Arizona had their way with the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium in 2013, largely due to the performance of slugger Paul Goldschmidt. Since then the series has been extremely one-sided. If the Dodgers manage another convincing series win next weekend you have to wonder if manager Kirk Gibson could be on the hot seat.