Walker on fire in LA but D-backs starters cool off

LOS ANGELES -- Christian Walker wasn’t kidding when he spoke Monday night about how much he enjoys hitting at Dodger Stadium. He returned to the ballpark Tuesday for the first Chavez Ravine doubleheader since 1999, and he homered again -- and then again.

The D-backs’ offense is at its best when Walker is producing runs in the middle of the order. But on this long day in Los Angeles, it still wasn’t enough for Arizona to overcome a pair of uncharacteristic tough showings from its starting rotation.

While Walker went deep in both ends of the doubleheader vs. the Dodgers -- extending his homer streak to a career-long three games -- Tyler Gilbert first allowed six runs in a 7-6 loss and then Merrill Kelly gave up eight runs in a 12-3 nightcap defeat. The D-backs have lost eight straight games at Dodger Stadium and 17 of their past 18 at the park.

For Arizona, the biggest positive from the twin bill was clearly Walker. He became only the third D-backs player to homer in both games of a doubleheader, joining Matt Williams (April 16, 1998, at St. Louis) and Luis Gonzalez (Sept. 23, 2000, at San Francisco).

After going 3-for-7 on Tuesday, Walker is batting .333 in 23 career games at Dodger Stadium. His nine home runs here are four more than he’s hit at any other road ballpark.

“I don’t feel any more confident here than I do at other parks,” Walker said. “I think it’s just a different layout than a field like Chase, bigger gap to gap. I feel like if you put a good swing on it, you get rewarded, and that’s the way it should be.”

Both of Walker’s Tuesday home runs helped the D-backs get out to an early lead. His two-run shot in Game 1 made it 3-0 in the third. And in Game 2, he went back to back with Jordan Luplow to put Arizona ahead 2-0 in the opening frame.

Neither lead stood up. The D-backs entered this series with the second-best rotation ERA in MLB (2.51), and Madison Bumgarner (three runs in five innings) was solid, despite losing Monday’s opener. But Gilbert and Kelly, who had been one of baseball’s top starters through the first 5 1/2 weeks of the season, each struggled Tuesday.

Gilbert, who was recalled from Triple-A Reno as the 27th player on the roster for the doubleheader, had already made a spot start in a twin bill earlier this year. On April 19, he allowed one run over 5 1/3 innings in a nightcap loss to the Nationals.

This time, Gilbert was on a roll through five innings against the Dodgers, having allowed only a Will Smith solo homer. But in the sixth, the left-hander allowed five runs, giving up three more homers (to Mookie Betts, Justin Turner and Trea Turner) and departing with two outs in the frame.

“I felt the best that I’d ever felt through the first five,” said Gilbert, who had allowed three or fewer earned runs in six of his previous seven MLB starts. “I kind of ran out of gas there in the sixth inning, missing spots and locations. That’s what really hurt me.”

For Kelly, it was the opposite, as he couldn’t find a rhythm early. The right-hander pitched two innings in Game 2, the second-shortest outing of his four-year big league career. The only time he’s recorded fewer outs was a 1 2/3-inning start vs. the Padres on May 22, 2019, the 10th appearance of his MLB career.

After posting a 1.71 ERA over his first seven starts of ‘22, Kelly allowed two runs in the first and six in the second vs. Los Angeles. He issued four walks and gave up five hits, including a three-run homer to Edwin Ríos.

“Either there’s something that I was doing really wrong, or maybe there was something I was doing that they were picking up on, because I did make some good pitches that got hit pretty hard,” Kelly said. “So I’ll take a look at that, for sure. But other than that, you just flush it.”

With their third loss at Dodger Stadium in the span of 27 hours, the D-backs fell to 3-22 at Chavez Ravine since the beginning of the 2019 season. Wednesday afternoon will mark their final opportunity to get a win here before the road trip continues vs. the Cubs in Chicago.

“We did a lot of immature things today. We’ve got to tighten that up,” Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said. “I don’t care what venue it is. I don’t care where we’re playing, who we’re playing against. We’ve got to play better.”