D-backs drop from 1st as Bradley stung again

LOS ANGELES -- As much as losing to the Dodgers on Saturday night hurt the D-backs, Sunday afternoon's 3-2 loss was even more painful.
For the second game in a row, it was Matt Kemp who did the damage against right-hander Archie Bradley. Saturday, it was a three-run homer in the eighth; Sunday, it was a two-run double off the wall in nearly the same area that allowed the Dodgers to walk off with their third win in the four-game series.
Worse for the D-backs is that the loss dropped them all the way from a tie for first place into third place in the National League West. They now trail the first-place Dodgers by a game and the Rockies by one-half game.

In the NL Wild Card race, the D-backs are two games in back of the second Wild Card, which would belong to the Cardinals if the season ended Sunday.
The good news for the D-backs is the season isn't over. They still have three games left against the Dodgers at Chase Field and they will play the Rockies seven times -- three at home and four at Coors Field -- over the final 25 games.
Arizona opens a two-game series against the Padres on Monday night at Chase Field.
"Yeah, maybe a little bit, just in the moments immediately afterward," veteran Daniel Descalso said when asked if these losses stung more than others. "But we'll come out tomorrow ready to go. This team does a really good job of putting those losses behind us when they do happen. It stings right now, but we'll get on the plane, get home and regroup and get right for the Padres."
It looked like the D-backs might end up writing a better ending to this series when they rallied to tie the game at 1 in the seventh on Alex Avila's sacrifice fly.
Descalso then led off the ninth with a homer to center. In a game where they had seemed overmatched by Dodgers starter Walker Buehler, the D-backs had a 2-1 lead.

Closer Brad Boxberger (2-5) opened the bottom of the ninth by walking both pinch-hitter Alex Verdugo and Max Muncy. Kiké Hernández then laid down a sacrifice bunt to move both runners into scoring position.
That's when D-backs manager Torey Lovullo decided he'd seen enough from Boxberger.
"The situation where the first two guys get on base via the walk, that's not a great start," Lovullo said. "That was one of the reasons why I took him out of the game. It was one of those moments where I couldn't wait around. Obviously, it didn't work out."
Lovullo elected to go to Bradley to face Kemp for the second game in a row.
"I'm sure Torey had his reasons," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. "I like the matchup and I really like the result."
After Kemp homered on a curveball against him the night before, Bradley threw a first-pitch fastball and Kemp jumped on it for the game-winner.
"I was just trying to make a good-quality pitch," Bradley said. "It was a tough situation to be in. Guys battled all day. Really [expletive] way to end the road trip."
STILL THE CLOSER
Lovullo did not hesitate when he was asked after the game if he still planned on using Boxberger as his closer despite removing him with two on, one out and no runs having yet scored.
Recently, Lovullo has used a left-hander to face a left-handed hitter to start the ninth before bringing in Boxberger. That's a change from earlier in the year, but it's the only adjustment Lovullo has planned for now.
"He's still our closer," Lovullo said. "We're going to piece it together in different ways, you've seen that over the past week. But it's go time. This is a situation where we can't blink."
SOUND SMART
Descalso's homer to center in the ninth just snuck over the glove of a leaping Cody Bellinger.
After the game, Descalso said he wasn't sure it was a homer off the bat, and that is backed up by the Statcast™ data. Balls hit at that launch angle (29 degrees) and with that exit velocity (94.9 mph) have gone for home runs only 36 percent of the time since Statcast™ began in 2015.
HE SAID IT
"I thought it would be a great opportunity for Archie. He's built for those moments. He steps up in the biggest of moments for us and I thought it was going to be a nice situation for him to get himself in front of. Once again, he made a mistake and Kemp was ready for it. Kemp's been doing it a long time. He's been punishing guys in those situations for a long time. He just had our number." -- Lovullo, on having Bradley face Kemp
MITEL REPLAY OF THE DAY
With the Dodgers leading 1-0, the D-backs had the bases loaded against Ryan Madson and Alex Avila lifted a fly ball to medium-center field. Bellinger caught the ball and fired a strike to catcher Yasmani Grandal, who put the tag on Paul Goldschmidt, who had tagged up from third base.

Home plate umpire Adam Hamari called Goldschmidt out and the near sellout crowd erupted as the Dodgers began to sprint off the field. The D-backs, though, challenged the call, and after a review of 2 minutes and 34 seconds, it was ruled that Goldschmidt's foot beat the tag and that he was safe, tying the game at 1. More >>
UP NEXT
The D-backs open a two-game set with the Padres on Monday night at Chase Field with Zack Godley (14-7, 4.42 ERA) on the mound. The right-hander pitched well in his last start against the Giants, as he allowed one run on two hits over 7 2/3 innings at AT&T Park. That came on the heels of a pair of starts in which he allowed a combined 11 runs over 10 innings. The Padres will counter Bryan Mitchell (0-3, 7.08).