Bumgarner gets 1st win since July, D-backs beat Dodgers 6-1
By BETH HARRIS
AP Sports Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Working through an ugly stretch of losing, Madison Bumgarner didn’t panic. Heck, he didn’t even have a game plan.
“Every time I do, it don’t work out too good,” he said. “I just feel it out.”
Relying heavily on his curveball, Bumgarner tossed six innings of one-run ball, giving the 2014 World Series MVP his first win in nearly two months, and the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-1 on Wednesday night.
Bumgarner (7-15) beat the Dodgers for the first time as a Diamondback and the first time since Sept. 23, 2017, when he was with San Francisco.
“I’ve had more than one stretch like that in my career,” he said of his six-game losing streak. “This was longer than I would liked for it to be, but it feels good to come out the other side. I knew I would at some point.”
Bumgarner retired the first nine batters and 13 of the first 14 he faced in his 40th career start against the Dodgers. The left-hander struck out five and walked one in his first victory since July 23 against Washington. He allowed just two baserunners.
“It started with Bum, great job,” D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said. “Six unbelievable innings and gave us a chance to get ahead and we stayed ahead.”
Corbin Carroll doubled in three runs and Christian Walker drove in two more for Arizona, which also led 5-1 on Monday only to have the Dodgers rally in the eighth and win 6-5.
This time, the Dodgers had no comeback in them.
“This was a big win for us,” Lovullo said. “This is all great experience for these young players. Our guys are growing up.”
Carson Kelly doubled leading off the fourth. Geraldo Peromo singled and Dustin May (2-3) hit Daulton Varsho to load the bases. That set up Carroll, who doubled to deep left. Varsho nearly caught Peromo as they raced around third base giving Arizona a 5-0 lead.
The D-backs extended their lead to 6-1 on Emmanuel Rivera’s sacrifice fly in the seventh. Jake McCarthy scored after getting hit by a pitch, taking second on Walker’s groundout and going to third on Tommy Kahnle’s wild pitch.
Walker drove in Arizona’s first two runs in similar fashion, giving him 86 RBIs on the season. He had a broken-bat single on a 99-mph pitch from May in the first and another single in the third. Both of Walker’s hits to the same spot came with two outs and scored runners who got on via walks.
Mookie Betts snapped an 0-for-10 skid with his 35th homer in the fourth for the Dodgers.
Trea Turner ran out a slow roller to third base off Mark Melancon for the Dodgers’ second hit of the game in the ninth, extending his hitting streak to 18 games. Freddie Freeman followed with a single for the third hit before Arizona’s defense closed out the win with a double play.
May struggled throughout his sixth start since coming back from Tommy John surgery. The right-hander gave up five runs and a season-high seven hits in a season-low four innings. He struck out four and walked two. May threw twice as many pitches as Bumgarner through the first three innings.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Diamondbacks: Placed RHP Ryne Nelson on 15-day IL with right scapula inflammation.
Dodgers: RHP Brusdar Graterol (elbow) will be activated Thursday. … RHP Tony Gonsolin (forearm) will throw to live hitters in an up-and-down bullpen Thursday. “It’s a big step for Tony,” manager Dave Roberts said. “If he passes that test, it’ll probably be another bullpen and another rehab assignment early next week.” … RHP Yency Almonte (elbow) will throw Friday and do a rehab assignment Sunday. … RHP Blake Treinen (shoulder) played catch Wednesday, but “he’s just not bouncing back the way any of us would hope,” Roberts said. … LHP David Price (wrist) will throw an inning to live hitters.
UP NEXT
Diamondbacks: RHP Zac Gallen (12-3, 2.52 ERA) starts the series finale. He had his club-record 44 1/3- inning scoreless streak snapped on Sept. 11 against Colorado.
Dodgers: LHP Julio Urías (17-7, 2.27) is 9-1 with a 1.31 ERA since the All-Star break.
___
More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP-Sports
