'Unconscious' in LA: Walker in rare company with HRs

LOS ANGELES -- Fans didn’t even have to wait until after the D-backs’ series finale at Dodger Stadium to see some Fourth of July fireworks. Christian Walker provided plenty of those all series long.

After homering once on Tuesday and twice on Wednesday, Walker went yard two more times against the Dodgers in the D-backs’ 9-3 series-clinching win on Thursday. He now has 19 homers in 42 career games at Dodger Stadium, tying him with Paul Goldschmidt for the lead among active visiting players at the park.

It’s been a nearly inexplicable level of success, something Walker is still attempting to make sense of himself.

"It's getting worse,” said Walker. “I have less for you than I did last night. It's just a crazy thing. Speechless, for sure."

Walker’s Thursday homers both came against Dodgers starter Landon Knack. In the first inning, he followed up Joc Pederson’s solo shot with a Statcast-projected 435-foot blast to center field, giving him homers in each of his last five games at Dodger Stadium. That’s tied for the longest single-season homer streak in games at Dodger Stadium with none other than Pederson himself, who accomplished the feat with L.A. in 2015.

In the third, with Pederson on first, Walker connected with a changeup at the top of the zone, depositing it into the Dodgers’ bullpen in left field for a two-run blast. That tied him with the Yankees' Aaron Judge at Camden Yards for the most homers as a visitor at any MLB venue since 2018.

"I was kind of shaking my head,” said manager Torey Lovullo. “I'm like, ‘This is really unbelievable.’ And he did it again, right? The second one, I'm thinking, ‘This is magical.’ And I’m just glad to be part of it."

When Walker came up for a third time in the fifth, first base was open, prompting the Dodgers to walk him intentionally. He grounded out in the seventh and drew a four-pitch walk as part of a four-run rally in the ninth, leaving his homer total for the three-game set at five.

"He's unconscious, really,” said starter Zac Gallen. “When they walked him, I was like, ‘Finally.’ … He’s playing at an All-Star-caliber level. I hope that Major League Baseball sees that and they find a way to get him on the team.”

Walker's effort improved his career OPS at Dodger Stadium to 1.184. That’s the highest OPS in Dodger Stadium history among players with at least 100 plate appearances -- surpassing Shohei Ohtani’s 1.128.

Here’s a look at the rare company Walker has joined with his feats vs. the Dodgers, courtesy of MLB.com researcher Sarah Langs:

• He’s tied for the longest single-season homer streak in games as a visitor against the Dodgers, with Willie Mays (1956, ‘59), Joe Adcock (‘56) and Del Ennis (‘55).

• He has homered in five straight games vs. the Dodgers, tied for the third-longest homer streak against the club alongside Eddie Mathews (1960), Mays (‘56) and Cy Williams (‘27). He trails only Adcock (nine in 1956) and Williams (six from ‘26-27).

• He’s the first player with seven homers in a five-game span as a visitor at Dodger Stadium. His seven homers are tied for the most in a five-game span vs. the Dodgers, with Todd Helton (2003), Barry Bonds (2001-02) and Mays (1958).

• Walker’s 19 career homers at Dodger Stadium have all come since the start of 2018. That’s eight more than anyone else as a visitor there in that span.

• He has the most homers through his first 42 career games at Dodger Stadium of any player. The previous high was 15, a tie between Cody Bellinger and Dave Kingman.

"What I feel at the plate [at Dodger Stadium] is maybe a little bit of a toned-down effort level,” said Walker. “Playing at home, playing in bigger parks, I feel like you’ve got to hit a ball really, really hard to get it out. Now, it comes with more doubles and more extra-base hits in the gaps, for sure, with the big outfield. But maybe a little bit of toned-down effort level helps making better decisions and helps the moves stay efficient.”

The all-time record for homers by a visitor at Dodger Stadium belongs to Barry Bonds, who hit 29 in 135 career games there. Walker won’t get another chance to close in on that this season, as Arizona’s remaining four-game series against the Dodgers is at Chase Field.

The D-backs went 4-2 in six games in L.A. Through their first nine meetings overall, Arizona is 5-4. There’s a chance they could get their first season series victory over the Dodgers since 2018. And with Arizona sitting 2 1/2 games out of the third NL Wild Card spot, a postseason meeting is not yet out of the realm of possibility.

"We'll see what happens in the coming months of a baseball season,” said Lovullo. “We might play more games here. Hopefully we do."