Big plays give D-backs momentum entering clash vs. Los Angeles Dodgers

The Arizona Diamondbacks went deep late three times in a 4-1 victory over the Dodgers on Monday, reversing a trend after Los Angeles came back all three times in its season-opening series sweep of Arizona.

Home runs by Tommy Troy, Nolan Arenado and Ketel Marte accounted for all four Arizona runs on Monday, but manager Torey Lovullo was especially taken by Troy's second hit -- a two-out, 45-foot bunt single that set up Marte's game-breaking, two-run shot in the eighth.

"The thing that stood out to me was that Tommy had some situational awareness," Lovullo said. "Gets on and hands it off to Marte.

"That's high baseball IQ. It's things we believe in here. It's things we talk about here. It helps you win games and helps you win the margins. That's where we spend most of our space. That was a pretty special moment for this ballclub."

Arizona right-hander Michael Soroka (7-2, 3.25 ERA) will face Dodgers left-hander Eric Lauer (2-5, 5.95) on Tuesday night in the second contest of the four-game series in Phoenix.

Of his key bunt on Monday, Troy said: "I saw (third baseman Max) Muncy go back. I'm like, here's a good opportunity. It's either going to be a foul ball or a hit. Glad it worked out. It was a great time to get Ketel up, because he's hot against lefties."

Marte's homer, his 10th of the season, came off left-hander Jack Dreyer. Marte has five homers in his last 13 games; he was 24-for-47 before going 0-for-11 when the Diamondbacks were swept in Seattle over the weekend.

Arizona also received margin-winning defensive plays Monday from center fielder Jorge Barrosa, who made diving catches to take away hits from Will Smith in the fourth inning and Andy Pages in the fifth. Barrosa caught Pages' drive in right-center field with one out and a runner on first base.

"The couple plays in center field were kind of big plays right there," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said, "then you get Marte hitting a two-run homer with two outs. Obviously a big play, too."

The Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani extended his on-base streak to 17 games with three hits Monday. He is batting .415 with six doubles and four homers during the stretch.

Entering this series, the Dodgers had won seven of their past eight games and 14 of 17.

Soroka was 3-1 with a 1.78 ERA in five May outings and has given up more than two earned runs in only two of his 11 starts this season.

He has received a no-decision in all three career appearances against the Dodgers, most recently when he gave up three runs and struck out 10 while with Washington in the Nationals' 13-7 loss on June 22.

Lauer will make his second start for Los Angeles since being acquired from Toronto on May 17, a move that helped the Dodgers maintain their favored six-man rotation. That allows rest for Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki because Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow are on the injured list.

Lauer, designated for assignment by the Blue Jays before joining the Dodgers, gave up one run on four hits in six innings in a 15-6 thrashing of Colorado last Tuesday. He struck out four, and the only Rockies' run off him came on Hunter Goodman's homer.

"They kept it pretty simple for me," Lauer said after working with pitching coach Mark Prior, who was San Diego's minor league pitching coordinator when Lauer came up in that organization.

"There were a couple of slight adjustments I wanted to make. It wasn't like, 'Let's work on too many things.' We're going to see what you're like as a normal guy and kind of tinker after that."

Lauer made a strong impression on the Dodgers in the 2025 World Series, when he held them scoreless over 5 2/3 innings in two appearances. He threw 4 2/3 shutout innings for Toronto in Los Angeles' 6-5 win in 18 innings in Game 3.

Lauer was 9-2 with a 3.18 ERA in 28 appearances with the Jays in the regular season a year ago but was designated for assignment after his ERA jumped to 6.69 ERA in eight appearances this year.

He is 4-5 with a 2.63 ERA in 11 career appearances against Arizona.

--Field Level Media