Wasted effort: Dodgers leave 15 on base and lose to Arizona, 2-1, in 12 innings.
L.A. squanders numerous chances while leaving 15 on base, Jansen blows save and Diamondbacks win in 12th.
PHOENIX — Yasiel Puig jogged the 90 feet from home plate to first base while clutching his bat. He had just grounded out for the final out of the 12th inning, stranding three runners to push the Dodgers’ total on the night to 15. Once he ran through the bag, he completed a gesture that spoke for his entire team in a 2-1 loss to Arizona.
Puig yanked off his helmet and smashed it with his bat. The frustration was obvious for the Dodgers, who were unable to puncture the threadbare Diamondbacks pitching staff. Kenley Jansen blew a save for the fourth time of the season, forcing the game into extra innings and opening the door for Arizona to win three innings later.
Dodgers Manager Dave Roberts had emptied his bullpen. Casey Fien was the sixth reliever he used in the game. Fien had yielded two home runs the night before. In the bottom of the 12th, he surrendered a leadoff triple to Jake Lamb and a walk-off single to Brandon Drury.
Heading into the ninth, the Dodgers (52-41) appeared on the verge of a 1-0 victory. Brandon McCarthy spun a minor gem. In his previous outing, McCarthy operated with minimal command of his pitches. At times, he said afterward, he felt like he was throwing a football. He experienced a revival Saturday, scattering three hits and striking out eight in six scoreless innings.
Adam Liberatore turned in his 25th consecutive scoreless appearance, striking out All-Star Paul Goldschmidt in the process. Joe Blanton left a pair of Diamondbacks on the bases. Then came Jansen, who could not record his 28th save.
The rally by the Diamondbacks started in innocuous fashion. Michael Bourn, a former All-Star outfielder, stroked a one-out single. Jansen did not appear bothered when Bourn stole second base with two outs. Jansen fed Lamb a cutter at the belt. Lamb rocketed a game-tying double off the left-field wall.
McCarthy spent parts of two seasons in Arizona. The Diamondbacks traded him to the New York Yankees midway through 2014. In the Bronx, McCarthy reincorporated a cut fastball into his arsenal, posted a 2.89 earned-run average in 14 starts and set himself up for a four-year, $48-million offer from the Dodgers that winter.
A torn ulnar collateral ligament prevented him from facing his old club in 2015. The reunion would occur Saturday, as McCarthy made his third start since undergoing Tommy John surgery.
McCarthy experienced an awkward beginning to his outing. Diamondbacks second baseman Jean Segura fouled his second pitch of the game off the mask of home-plate umpire Dale Scott. The accident forced Scott to leave the game. McCarthy waited nearly 12 minutes between pitches.
The delay did not appear to affect him. McCarthy struck out Bourn and Goldschmidt to end the first. He stranded Lamb after a leadoff double in the second. He allowed a leadoff single by shortstop Nick Ahmed in the third, then picked him off. An inning later, Goldschmidt was caught stealing after a one-out single.
The Diamondbacks, of course, are not one of baseball’s finest units. Their greatest deficiency is the pitching staff. On Saturday they started 23-year-old rookie Archie Bradley, the No. 7 pick in the 2011 draft.
Facing Chase Utley to start the third inning, Bradley let a 1-2 changeup drift too close to the middle of the plate. Utley laced a double. Two batters later, Justin Turner’s opposite-field RBI single to right gave McCarthy a lead.
The Dodgers frittered away several opportunities to increase the lead. On three occasions, McCarthy made the last out with runners on base. Howie Kendrick had four hits, but he struck out with the bases loaded in the seventh.