12-27-2019, 08:27 AM
LOS ANGELES -- Once he put Paul Goldschmidts first-inning homer behind him, Dan Haren found his bearings and his rhythm. From then on, it was another professional job for the three-time All-Star. Haren pitched into the seventh inning and hit a tiebreaking three-run double, leading the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 6-4 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Saturday night. "I was scuffling out of the gate, and its been the same way for a long time now," Haren said. "I havent been coming out that crisp out of the bullpen, but I felt really good today and my stuff was there." Dee Gordon hit a rare home run for the Dodgers, who are 10-3 against the Diamondbacks and 27-30 against everyone else. With six games left between the NL West rivals, this is the earliest the Dodgers have ever clinched a season series with Arizona. They began the year by sweeping a two-game set in Sydney, Australia. "We thought wed be doing a lot better against everybody, not just these guys," Arizona catcher Miguel Montero said. "Unfortunately, were not doing good against anybody. So weve just got to pick it up and be a better team the rest of the way." Haren (7-4) allowed three runs and eight hits, including a one-out single in the seventh by pinch-hitter Jordan Pacheco that chased the former Diamondbacks right-hander. Haren, coming off a 6-2 victory last Monday at Cincinnati, has won back-to-back starts first the first time since beating Arizona by identical 8-6 scores in a span of seven days in April. Kenley Jansen got three outs for his 19th save despite giving up a leadoff homer in the ninth by Martin Prado -- his third hit of the game and 1,000th of his career. Arizona right-hander Josh Collmenter (4-4) gave up six runs and eight hits through six innings. He is winless in three starts since his three-hit shutout against the Reds on May 29. Prado gave the Diamondbacks a 3-2 lead with an RBI single in the fourth, but the Dodgers responded with four runs in the bottom half. Matt Kemp singled in a run and Haren drove a 1-0 pitch to right-centre field, clearing the bases as teammate Clayton Kershaw jumped for joy in the dugout. "Collmenter did good, except that one inning. But he went out and gave us six innings and just battled and competed," Montero said. "I know that Haren can hit. He can swing the bat. Hes not like normal pitchers. I dont know if it was a bad pitch or not." Haren, a 12-year veteran with 71 hits and a .209 career batting average, had one RBI in 26 at-bats over his 13 previous starts this season. "I got into a good count and was looking to go the other way, and I got a pitch that I could handle," Haren said. "I used to be a really good hitter, and Im not as good now as I once was. But I put a good swing on that one and the bullpen made it hold up." The damage could have been worse for Collmenter had Goldschmidt not robbed Andre Ethier of at least a double three batters earlier with a diving stop toward the first-base line and toss to Collmenter for the out. Goldschmidts 14th homer came after a leadoff double by Didi Gregorius. Haren has allowed at least one homer in seven consecutive starts. His longest such streak was 10 starts in 2012 with the Angels. "I just got burned with a cutter on Gregorius, and I hung the cutter again to Goldschmidt and made a really bad pitch," Haren said. "But after that, I settled in and got some ground balls." The Dodgers tied it in the fourth on a two-run shot by Gordon, who turned on an 0-1 pitch and drove it into the first row of seats in the right-field corner. It was the second homer this season for the second baseman, and just his fourth in 874 big league at-bats to that point. NOTES: Arizona LHP Joe Thatcher pitched a scoreless eighth, extending his streak against the Dodgers without allowing an earned run to 36 innings and 21 2-3 innings. The only reliever in history with a longer streak against one team without giving up an earned run was Troy Percival, who had 39 in a row against Minnesota spanning 40 innings. ... The Dodgers placed utilityman Chone Figgins on the 15-day disabled list because of a left quad strain and recalled INF Carlos Triunfel from Triple-A Albuquerque. ... The Dodgers were well-represented at Saturdays memorial service for Bob Welch in Scottsdale, Arizona. Among the mourners were Tommy Lasorda, former teammates Steve Yeager, Dusty Baker, Dave Stewart, Rick Honeycutt and Ken Howell, along with longtime visiting clubhouse manager Jerry Turner. Also on hand was ex-Oakland As teammate and current Dodgers hitting coach Mark McGwire. 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Custom Seattle Supersonics Jerseys . -- Michael Bennett gambled last off-season that playing on a one-year deal in Seattle would pay off in the future with the long-term contract he always wanted. Stitched Supersonics Jerseys . The Stampeders announced the move on Wednesday. Bell spent his first two CFL seasons with the B.DETROIT -- Drew Smyly acknowledged thinking about the possibility of throwing a no-hitter. When Yan Gomes broke up his bid with a two-out double in the fifth, Smyly shifted his focus to simply winning the game to help his team end a skid. Smyly allowed four hits and matched his career high by pitching seven innings, and the Detroit Tigers beat the Cleveland Indians 5-1 Sunday to avoid avoided a four-game sweep. Smyly (6-8) noticed after two innings that he had held the Indians hitless. "If any pitcher says they dont notice it, theyre lying," he said. "You think about it." The left-hander ended up allowing only one run -- on Gomes seventh-inning homer -- walked two and struck out six. "They didnt see a lot of the same pitches back to back," Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said. Joba Chamberlain walked two in the eighth, and Joe Nathan pitched a perfect ninth in a non-save situation. The AL Central-leading Tigers (54-41) stopped a four-game losing streak and increased their lead over Cleveland to 5 1-2 games. "Its huge to come and get the win to end that little streak," Smyly said. "But thats baseball, youre going to go on a lot of hot streaks, youre going to go on some cold streaks and you just try to weather the storm." Josh Tomlin (5-7) allowed four runs, six hits and a walk over 4 1-3 innings. Cleveland (50-48) had reached a season-high three games over .500 by winning four in a row. "It was a great series for us," Tomlin said. "Took three games from them, but I came up short." Detroit gave Smyly some support offensively, scoring two runs in the first and two more on Torii Hunters drive deep into the left-field seats in fourth. Austin Jackson led off the first with a double and scored on Ian Kinslers single. Kinssler came home on Victor Martinezs sacrifice fly.dddddddddddd Indians relievers C.C. Lee and Kyle Crockett stranded a total of five runners by combining to strike out the last two batters in the fifth and the sixth. Cleveland manager Terry Francona was pleased with his pitchers performances against Miguel Cabrera, who went 0 for 4, and Victor Martinez, who was 3 of 15 over the four-game series. "Those guys in the middle are pretty special," Francona said. "And, I thought we did a good job against them." Nick Castellanos hit an RBI double for a four-run lead in the eighth inning, taking some pressure off Nathan, who was greeted by the fans with a mix of cheers and boos after giving up a game-losing hit in Saturday nights loss. "I dont think it hurt that he got back out there," Ausmus said. NOTES: Tigers RHP Justin Verlander (8-8, 4.88) is to face Arizona LHP Vidal Nuno (0-1, 3.00) when Detroit begins a seven-game trip that continues against the Los Angeles Angels. ... Martinez played first base, giving Cabrera a day of relative rest as a designated hitter, and may play there while Cabrera moves to third for a game or two against the Diamondbacks. ... The Indians will stay on the road, expecting to put called-up LHP T.J. House (1-2, 4.40) on the mound against LHP Kris Johnson (0-1, 5.40) Monday night and called-up RHP Danny Salazar on Tuesday night at Minnesota. ... Detroit and Cleveland optioned the 26th players they had for Saturdays doubleheader, sending RHP Drew VerHagen to Triple-A Toledo and RHP Zach McAllister to Triple-A Columbus. ... Tigers owner Mike Ilitch attended the game on his 85th birthday. ... The Indians had won a season-best five straight on the road. ... Cleveland had won a season-best five straight on the road. ' ' '