Diamondbacks hang on to beat Dodgers in NLDS Game 2, hold 2-0 series lead

LOS ANGELES — The Diamondbacks’ Ketel Marte looked up and saw the left side of the infield largely vacated when the idea popped into his head. It had been since May when he last dropped down a bunt. He does not participate among the group of teammates that occasionally practice bunting before games. And he was facing a pitcher pumping fastballs into the triple digits.

He went ahead with it anyway.

Marte’s first-inning bunt single seemed to catch everyone in the ballpark by surprise — just like the Diamondbacks seem to have caught everyone in baseball by surprise over the first seven days of the postseason.

That set the stage for a three-run first inning, which put the Diamondbacks on a path toward their second stunning victory over the vaunted Los Angeles Dodgers in as many games of this National League Division Series. With their 4-2 win on Monday night at Dodger Stadium, the Diamondbacks have a 2-0 series lead and need just one more win to advance to their third league championship series in club history.

“Realistically, I was hoping to leave here with one win and we got two,” Diamondbacks outfielder Tommy Pham said. “Even better.”

Right-hander Zac Gallen gave up two runs in 5 1/3 innings, following rotation mate Merrill Kelly’s strong performance with one of his own. The bullpen, this time highlighted by sidearmer Ryan Thompson, held firm once again. Rookie outfielder Corbin Carroll reached base four more times in what has been a remarkable start to his postseason career. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. homered and drove in a pair of runs.

And the list goes on. The Diamondbacks’ contributors are up and down the roster, and their style of play feels almost antithetical to the star power employed by the Dodgers. The Diamondbacks are not beating themselves on defense. Their pitchers are throwing strikes. And their hitters are putting together quality at-bats in the most important moments of the game. And they are doing all the little things one would expect from an 84-win wild-card team hellbent on knocking off the 100-win division champion.

Momentum is not the only thing on the Diamondbacks’ side right now. There is also recent history. In the current iteration of the division series, 16 teams have won the first two games on the road. Of those, 14 have gone on to win the series.

In four games this postseason, the Diamondbacks are 4-0.

“I wouldn’t say,” Carroll said, “that this is what a lot of people expected.”

That also applies to Marte’s bunt. Carroll had walked to start the game and Marte had worked himself into a 2-1 count against Dodgers fireballer Bobby Miller to open the game. It was a moment in which he could have been looking to drive a fastball. Instead, he dropped down a five-hopper that Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy could only eat.

“It takes courage,” first baseman Christian Walker said. “It takes confidence. But that’s why it caught everybody off guard.”

Said Carroll: “That was awesome. There might have been one other attempt last series or like a quick show, but I haven’t seen him bunt too much this year. Cool to know he’s got that in the bag.”

Marte said he figured he would be getting a fastball from Miller, and so long as it were up in the zone he decided he was going to try to drop one down.

“That’s the kind of player I am,” Marte said. “I like to play that kind of game. When I need it, I do it. It depends on how the game is going. I know how to do it, so it’s natural for me.”

With runners on the corners later in the inning, Pham took off for second, stealing the bag without a throw. Like Marte’s bunt, it seemed to surprise the Dodgers — Pham has been battling turf toe and seemed an unlikely candidate to run — and it, too, paid dividends. Not only did it keep an ensuing ground ball from being a potential double play, it put him in position to score on Gurriel’s forthcoming single.

“Just fast, man,” Pham deadpanned. “You guys are underestimating my speed for a 35-year-old.”

The Diamondbacks were clinging to a 4-1 lead in the sixth when manager Torey Lovullo made his first controversial move of the postseason. It wound up working out. An inning earlier, Gallen had escaped a two-on, one-out jam by freezing Freddie Freeman on a curveball. But the sixth began with two of the first three batters reaching and Lovullo quickly maneuvered even though Gallen’s pitch count was only at 84.

By going to lefty Andrew Saalfrank, he forced Dodgers manager Dave Roberts to empty his bench, so when Saalfrank and Thompson wiggled out of the inning with only one run scoring, the Diamondbacks had their trio of tough right-handed relievers lined up to face the Dodgers’ suddenly righty heavy lineup over the final three innings.

“That was the strategy, for sure,” Lovullo said. “That conversation started when we saw they were 13 (pitchers) and 13 (position players) and had a four-man bench. We were strategizing as a staff and as a group about what do we want lineups to look like… We want that matchup, right-on-right, whenever we can take it.”

Thompson, Kevin Ginkel and closer Paul Sewald mowed through the Dodgers’ lineup to seal the victory.

Over two games, the Dodgers’ brightest stars have faded. The Diamondbacks’ rotation has shined. Their lineup has chased the Dodgers’ starters after a total of two innings pitched. And Carroll, who has reached base in 12 of 19 plate appearances in four games, has begun to show the rest of the country the sort of dynamic player he is.

Now they are positioned to close things out in short order. They need to win only one of the final three games. The next two would be at Chase Field, with Wednesday’s Game 3 already sold out. Brandon Pfaadt will start on Wednesday, but if the Diamondbacks were to lose this series they will do so with Kelly and Gallen each pitching again.

“How do I feel about the wins here in LA?” Lovullo said. “Obviously, we feel good about it, but we will take nothing for granted.”

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Dbacks win both NLDS games at Dodger Stadium, need 1 more to advance