First baseman Cody Bellinger, a native Arizonan, led the Los Angeles Dodgers to a sweep of the Arizona Diamondbacks in the National League Division Series at Chase Field in Phoenix.
Bellinger hit a home run, batted in a pair of runs and had several key defensive plays, one of them worthy of being in the highlight reel, as the Dodgers beat the Diamondbacks 3-1 to sweep them in the best-of-five N.L.D.S and advance to the National League Championship Series.
Bellinger, a candidate for the N.L rookie of the year, had only one hit in 10 innings in the first two games in Los Angeles, but yesterday in Phoenix, less than 30 miles from his native town of Scottsdale, batted in the Dodgers’ first two runs, the first one with a single in the first inning, and the second with a solo homer in the fifth.
Defensively Bellinger stepped in at key moments. First, he made a superb catch in the fifth inning as he dived into the Dodgers’ dugout to make perhaps the most acrobatic play of the postseason so far. Then in the sixth, he started a 3-6-3 double play after David Peralta grounded to first.
Japanese starter Yu Darvish (1-0) had a dominant outing to earn the win. Darvish limited Arizona to two hits in five innings as he struck out seven batters and allowed just one earned run when Daniel Descalso hit a solo homer in the fifth inning.
Arizona’s next hit, the third of the game, came in the ninth inning, but by then it was too little too late. The season ended for the Diamondbacks when Paul Goldsmicht, an MVP candidate, struck out swinging against closer Kenley Jansen, who earned his second save of the postseason.
Zack Greinke (0-1), who in 2016 signed a six-year, $ 206.5 million contract, was unable to save the Diamondbacks’ season as he allowed three runs, four hits, and five walks in five innings of work. In his last four starts, Greinke allowed 17 runs.
It’s the first time in Arizona’s postseason history that the D-backs are eliminated at home as they were 6-0 in previous elimination games at Chase Field.
This is Dodgers first postseason sweep since 2009 when they swept the St. Louis Cardinals in the N.L.D.S.
Next Saturday at Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles will host game 1 of the N.L.C.S against the winner of the other N.L.D.S matchup between the Washington Nationals and the defending champion Chicago Cubs.
