Jun 26, 2019 4 min read

The Arizona Diamondbacks figured the best approach against a pitcher in his major league debut was to come out aggressive, a plan that worked right away.

Eduardo Escobar’s three-run home gave Arizona a four-run lead before Los Angeles recorded an out, and the Diamondbacks cruised to an 8-2 victory over the National League West-leading Dodgers on Wednesday.

The Dodgers, with the best record in the majors at 55-27, lost for just the second time – both to Arizona in the three-game series – in nine games, while Arizona finished a nine-game homestand 3-6.

“It was a hard-fought series after a very lean start to the homestand, and I thought our guys did a great job of rebounding, sticking together and pressing on,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said.

Jarrod Dyson had three hits, an RBI and swiped two bases to raise his NL-leading total to 19. He also had a home run-stealing catch over the right-center field fence.

“I never take my eye off the ball,” Dyson said. “When we’re out there, players make plays and it’s our job to run them down.”

Ildemaro Vargas hit a two-run double, and pitcher Taylor Clarke (2-3) allowed two runs on three hits in five innings.

The Dodgers’ Cody Bellinger hit his 26th home run of the season, tying him for the fourth-most before the All-Star break in franchise history. Los Angeles was charged with three errors, two by first baseman Joc Pederson.

The Diamondbacks roughed up Tony Gonsolin (0-1) right away in his first big-league game. Dyson led off with a bunt base hit against the shift, stole second base and took third when Gonsolin didn’t arrive at first base in time to get Tim Locastro out on a grounder to the right side.

Locastro stole second, then Pederson booted a ground ball from David Peralta for the Diamondbacks’ first run. Escobar followed by lining a 2-2 pitch off the top of the right-field fence and into the seats for a 4-0 lead.

“We wanted to challenge him the best that we could,” Lovullo said about facing Gonsolin. “It’s really good coaching, and really good aptitude and trust by our players. It’s not rocket science, it’s just a matter of the guys knowing what to do and how to do it and when to do it.”

Gonsolin, called up from Triple-A Oklahoma City for the start, was the Dodgers’ minor-league pitcher of the year last season and had a 2.77 earned-run average in eight starts in the minors this season. He went four innings, allowing four earned runs on six hits.

Colorado 6, San Francisco 3: David Dahl hit a go-ahead grand slam in the third and drove in a career-high five runs, leading the Colorado Rockies past the San Francisco Giants 6-3. Dahl connected off Jeff Samardzija for his second career grand slam, with the other coming last Sept. 10 against Arizona. It marked the first grand slam ever hit by a Rockies player in San Francisco.

American League

N.Y. Yankees 8, Toronto 7: Gleyber Torres lined a game-winning single in the ninth inning and the New York Yankees hit two more big flies before jetting off to see Big Ben and the London sights, beating the Toronto Blue Jays 8-7.

Didi Gregorius and DJ LeMahieu connected as the Yankees extended their major league record to 29 straight games.

Now, they’ll head straight from Yankee Stadium to England, where they’ll play the Boston Red Sox on Saturday and Sunday at London Stadium in the first major league games in Europe.

Cleveland 5, Kansas City 3: Trevor Bauer struck out a season-high 12 in 6 2/3 innings, and the Cleveland Indians beat the Kansas City Royals 5-3. Bauer had the 23rd double-figure strikeout game of his career and his fourth this season. The right-hander gave up one run and didn’t allow a hit until rookie Humberto Arteaga singled with two outs in the fifth. Bauer matched a career high by throwing 127 pitches and held the Royals to three hits.

Interleague

San Diego 10: Baltimore 5: Franmil Reyes hit two of San Diego’s five homers, Eric Hosmer drove in four runs and the Padres pounded the skidding Baltimore Orioles 10-5 for a two-game sweep. Greg Garcia got the long ball barrage started with a two-run drive in the second inning off Dylan Bundy. Hosmer and Renfroe also went deep for San Diego.