W: Dan Haren (2-0) L: Trevor Cahill (0-4) S: Jansen (4)
The Diamondbacks' management has been hoping for improvement from pitcher Trevor Cahill, and showing confidence in his stuff by keeping him in the starting rotation after two bad starts this year already. It's safe to say they are reevaluating such a decision, as Cahill was pounded again Sunday afternoon, recording his fourth loss already on the year.
The Los Angeles Dodgers simply teed off on the D-backs' pitching in the three game series over the weekend, outscoring Arizona 32-17. The sweep not only puts the D-backs record at 4-11, it makes them 0-5 against the Dodgers this season.
Both starting pitchers struggled with their control, but Trevor Cahill was clearly worse off in comparison to Dan Haren. The Dodgers struck first off Cahill in the second inning, when outfielder Matt Kemp blasted a solo shot off the wall in the Diamondbacks' bullpen. Everyone thought a big inning was in the mix, but Cahill calmly got out of the inning. The third inning was where things fell apart for Cahill. It started off with a thrilling play from D-backs gold glove outfielder Gerardo Parra, when Dan Haren appeared to hit a base hit to right field but Parra gunned him out at first as if it was a routine play.
Cahill couldn't seem to throw strikes to second basemen Dee Gordon, walking him twice in the game, and one of them following the 9-3 putout recorded by Parra. Gordon made Cahill pay by stealing both second and third in the inning (four total in the ballgame). Puig also drew a walk and stole second base, that was followed by a Hanley Ramirez RBI infield single. Adrian Gonzalez was next up to the plate and continued his utter domination of the D-backs by hitting a three run home run, his third of the series. Gonzalez finished his monster series hitting 7 for 13, with three home runs and ten RBI's.
The D-backs showed fight in the bottom half of the inning, as Aaron Hill hit an RBI triple, followed by a Paul Goldschmidt RBI groundout. The scoring effort was topped off with a Eric Chavez solo home run, that cut the lead to 5-3. After a quiet fourth inning, the Dodgers were back at it. Trevor Cahill walked Hanley Ramirez to start off the inning, followed by a Adrian Gonzalez double that ended Cahill's outing. Cahill finished the day pitching four innings, giving up six earned runs on just five hits but walking five. The lone bright spot for Trevor was his eight strikeouts. Randall Delgado came in to pitch in his new bullpen role, allowing two runs to score. The first came from a RBI groundout off the bat of Andre Ethier (the run charged to Cahill) and the second run scored on a Goldschmidt fielding error.
The Dodgers didn't stop their scoring barrage until Juan Uribe hit a solo shot off of D-backs reliever Will Harris in the seventh inning. The Diamondbacks answered in the bottom half, as Mark Trumbo hit a three run "TRUMBOMB" off Dodgers reliever Jamey Wright, his sixth on the year.
The Diamondbacks look to start a winning streak against a wore out New York Mets team starting Monday night at Chase Field. The Mets lost 14-2 at the hands of the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday, and played an extra inning game the day before. The D-backs will send Josh Collmenter to the mound to make his first start since 2012, after being inserted into Delgado's rotation spot. The Mets will send young pitcher Zack Wheeler to the mound. The Dodgers get Monday off, and look to continue their early season success against the Giants in San Francisco starting Tuesday.