Puig’s Dodgers take 2-0 lead on Arizona
LOS ANGELES — Yasiel Puig had three hits and drove in two runs, Austin Barnes added a key two-run double and the Los Angeles Dodgers used another relentless offensive performance to beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 8-5 on Saturday night for a 2-0 lead in their NL Division Series.
Logan Forsythe had three hits and Kenley Jansen earned a flawless five-out save for the 104-win Dodgers, who have made their mediocre pitching irrelevant by pounding out 17 runs and 24 hits in the first two games against their NL West rival.
Paul Goldschmidt hit a two-run homer in the first inning and Brandon Drury added a pinch-hit, threerun shot in the seventh, but the Diamondbacks are on the brink of elimination after Robbie Ray and reliever Jimmie Sherfy couldn’t contain the Dodgers’ lineup.
Game 3 of the best-of-five matchup is Monday at Chase Field. Arizona ace Zack Greinke will attempt to save the season when he faces his former teammates with the Dodgers, who counter with lateseason acquisition Yu Darvish.
Forsythe got his first career playoff RBI during that stretch, and Barnes followed with his two-run double. With the Dodger Stadium crowd chanting his name, Puig added an RBI single to his earlier runscoring groundout, flipping his bat and pointing back to the Dodgers’ dugout as he sprinted toward first base.
Rich Hill made it through just four innings for the Dodgers, yielding three hits and three walks. Kenta Maeda got the victory by getting three outs of middle relief. —AP