How the Diamondbacks Were Able to Sweep the Dodgers

When Lourdes Gurriel Jr. secured the final out last night, it was the closing moment to perhaps the most impressive series that the Diamondbacks played all season. Facing the Dodgers, a team that has tormented them for the past 11 seasons, it was the D-backs who hit the big home runs and got the key strikeouts to thwart rallies in this series. Six years after watching the Dodgers celebrate on their field and 10 years after the Dodgers invaded the Chase Field pool, the D-backs got their redemption this week to avenge both those moments.

In order to win in the postseason, your stars need to step up. The D-backs star players showed up, with Corbin Carroll (1.389), Gabriel Moreno (1.107), Christian Walker (1.023), and Ketel Marte (.984) each hitting a home run and putting up an OPS of at least .950 in the NLDS. On the flip side, their pitchers held Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman to a combined 1-for-21. That one hit was a result of a mental error, with Zac Gallen breaking late to cover first when Walker made a play on a hard-hit ground ball from Freeman. The contrast to how well the D-backs stars performed vs. the Dodgers makes it no surprise that this was a one-sided series from the get-go.

The tone for the series was set when they torched future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw in the first inning of Game 1. Kershaw had entered that game with a 1.80 ERA in 22 starts against the D-backs in Dodger Stadium, both regular and postseason. A misplay in center field by James Outman on a well-struck liner by Ketel Marte opened the floodgates for Arizona. Seven of the first eight batters reached base and hung six runs on Kershaw. On the other side Merrill Kelly, who had a 7.03 ERA in five starts at Dodger Stadium, silenced the crowd with 6 1/3 scoreless innings to pick up his first ever win against his nemesis.

That started an impressive trend by the D-backs, who scored 13 runs against a Dodgers rotation that recorded only 14 outs in three games. That came to a head in the 3rd inning of Game 3, in which they became the first team to hit four home runs in a single inning in the postseason at Lance Lynn's expense. In comparison Arizona's starters allowed just a total two runs in 16 innings, and two of those starts were scoreless. That allowed them to control the flow of the game, taking leads of 6-0, 3-0, and 4-0. In the postseason having a strong lead makes it easier to manage the series, but Torey Lovullo did a great job of preventing the Dodgers from establishing any offensive momentum with his maneuvering of the bullpen.

Speaking of that bullpen, that unit allowed just four runs in 11 innings with two of them coming in a game they already had an 11-0 lead. The quartet of Ryan Thompson, Andrew Saalfrank, Kevin Ginkel, and Paul Sewald pitched seven of those innings. Those four relievers have been the source of the bullpen's recent success and that continued. Perhaps the signature moment of this bullpen came in the 8th inning of Game 3, when Ginkel faced both Betts and Freeman as the potential tying run and struck them both out. That moment proved to be the Dodgers' last gasp of the series, as Sewald would put them away an inning later.

Despite entering the postseason with only 84 wins, not only has this team proven they belong but they are a connected team. As Torey Lovullo loves saying, a connected team is a dangerous team. The D-backs are a dangerous team moving forward.