rbi double

PHOENIX — The Dodgers might’ve finally found an answer to their long-maddening bullpen problems.

Just use some starters.

In a 5-4 extra-innings win over the Arizona Diamondbacks that lowered their magic number to clinch the National League West to one, the Dodgers again squandered a late-game lead when their traditional relievers faltered. They still didn’t make winning look as simple as it should have.

But win, they did on this night — thanks in large part to two scoreless innings of relief from Roki Sasaki and Clayton Kershaw.

The game wasn’t decided until the 11th inning, when Tommy Edman gave the Dodgers a lead they finally wouldn’t relinquish.

It never would’ve gotten there, however, without the contributions of Sasaki and Kershaw out of the bullpen.

Activated from the injured list shortly before the game, and making his first appearance in the majors since suffering a shoulder injury in early May, Sasaki flashed promising signs with a scoreless frame in the bottom of the seventh, protecting a 3-1 lead the team had been staked to by Blake Snell’s six-inning, one-run start, and an early offensive outburst that included a two-run homer from Andy Pages.

Sasaki’s fastball averaged 98-99 mph, was located with precision on the corners of the strike zone, and even induced a couple of swing-and-misses, things he never did consistently while posting a 4.72 ERA in eight starts at the beginning of the season.

He paired it with a trademark splitter that was also commanded with more precision than at any point in his initial MLB stint.

Sasaki needed only 13 pitches to retire the side in order, punctuating his outing with a pair of strikeouts on 99-mph four-seamers. As he walked back to the dugout, he glanced toward his teammates with a stoic glare. Just about all of them, including Shohei Ohtani, applauded in approval.

Disaster did strike in the eighth, after the Dodgers extended their lead to 4-1 on Teoscar Hernández’s RBI double in the top half of the inning.

The bullpen’s one season-long stalwart, Alex Vesia, ran into trouble by giving up a single to Ketel Marte, a walk to Geraldo Perdomo, and an RBI double to Corbin Carroll — all with one out.

Hard-throwing rookie righty Edgardo Henriquez couldn’t put out the fire from there, giving up one run on a swinging bunt from Gabriel Moreno in front of the plate that spun away from catcher Ben Rortvedt, then another when pinch-hitter Adrian Del Castillo stayed alive on a generous two-strike call (which was no doubt impacted by Rortvedt dropping the pitch behind the plate) before lifting a sacrifice fly to center.

For the second straight night, a late-game three-run lead had evaporated into thin air.

This time, however, manager Dave Roberts had a new card to play. A night after Kershaw volunteered to pitch in relief, the future Hall of Fame left-hander was summoned for the ninth inning.

In what was his first relief appearance since the infamous fifth game of the 2019 NL Division Series, Kershaw was effective. He retired the side in order with the help of a diving catch from Tommy Edman in center. He looked comfortable in the kind of high-leverage relief role the Dodgers might need him to fill come October.

In extras, the rest of the bullpen finally held up. Blake Treinen inherited a bases-loaded jam with two out in the 10th, but got James McCann to fly out to shallow right field. Justin Wrobleski (another pitcher who began this season as a starter) was handed a save situation in the 11th, after Edman singled home a run with his third hit of the night, and retired all three batters he faced.

Jo Adell hit his 35th homer, Travis d’Arnaud hit a tiebreaking RBI double in the eighth inning, and the Angels avoided a three-game sweep with a 4-3 victory over the Athletics on Sunday.

Angels catcher Logan O’Hoppe departed in the seventh when A’s shortstop Jacob Wilson accidentally hit the Angels catcher’s chin with his bat on the back swing of a warm-up swing.

Chris Taylor sparked the winning rally with a one-out walk off A’s reliever Osvaldo Bido (2-5) in the eighth. Oswald Peraza was hit by a pitch — the fifth Angels hit batter of the game, a franchise record.

After entering in the seventh inning for O’Hoppe, d’Arnaud drove a ground-rule double to right-center in the eighth for a 4-3 lead.

Reid Detmers (5-3) earned the win despite giving up a run in the eighth, and Kenley Jansen retired the side in order in the ninth for his 26th save.

Angels left-hander Mitch Farris gave up two runs and three hits in six innings in his second big-league start. A’s right-hander Luis Severino allowed three runs and four hits in five innings.

Key moment: With two on and one out in the seventh, A’s pinch-hitter Carlos Cortes grounded to Taylor, who flipped to Peraza to start an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play and preserve a 3-2 Angels lead.

Key stat: Adell is batting .347 with 10 homers and 22 RBIs in his last 20 games. He has hit four go-ahead homers in seven games in September. Adell left the game in the ninth inning because of nausea.

Up next: A’s right-hander Luis Morales (3-0, 1.59 ERA) will oppose Red Sox left-hander Garrett Crochet (14-5, 2.67) Monday in Sacramento. Angels right-hander Caden Dana (0-0, 4.91) will face Twins right-hander Simeon Woods Richardson (5-4, 4.53) Monday in Anaheim.

Nico Hoerner had an RBI double against former teammate Kyle Hendricks and the Chicago Cubs beat the Angels 4-3 Sunday to complete a three-game series sweep.

Hoerner and Matt Shaw each had two hits in backing right-hander Jameson Taillon (9-6), who allowed one run in five innings as the Cubs improved to 8-2 in winning their third straight series. Right-hander Daniel Palencia worked out of a ninth-inning jam for his 20th save.

Taylor Ward hit his 30th homer for the Angels, who fell to 2-7 since a three-game sweep of the Dodgers.

Hendricks (6-9) gave up four runs on five hits over 4⅓ innings with three walks and two strikeouts in his first start against his former club. He joined the Angels this season after 11 seasons with Chicago, where he played a key role in their 2016 World Series title.

Ward reached 30 homers for the first time in his career with a first-inning blast for a 1-0 lead.

Kyle Tucker had a game-tying RBI single in the third inning and Hoerner had his run-scoring double in the fourth. The Cubs chased Hendricks in the fifth when they got a sacrifice fly from Pete Crow-Armstrong and an RBI single from Carson Kelly for a 4-1 lead.

The Angels pulled within a run in the sixth on an RBI double by Ward and a run-scoring grounder by Luis Rengifo.

Key moment: After he walked the go-ahead run with one out in the ninth, Palencia struck out rookie Christian Moore on a full-count, 99.9-mph fastball, then ended it with a strikeout of Bryce Teodoso.

Key stat: Tucker went five for 12 with three home runs and seven RBIs in the series, after he was given a three-game rest against Milwaukee last week,

Up next: Angels RHP Jose Soriano (8-9, 4.00 ERA) will face Texas on Monday.

Hunter Greene had 12 strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings, Noelvi Marte homered, doubled and drove in two runs, and the Cincinnati Reds beat the Angels 6-4 on Tuesday night.

Jose Trevino scored on a sacrifice fly by TJ Friedl and Gavin Lux followed with an RBI double off Kenley Jansen (5-3) in the ninth inning to give Cincinnati a 6-4 lead.

Miguel Andujar was three for four with a double and two RBIs.

Greene gave up three runs and six hits and walked none. Luis Mey (2-0) pitched the eighth inning and gave up Jo Adell’s second solo homer of the game but got the win.

Elly De La Cruz walked with two out in the fifth and then scored from first base on a single by Andujar.

Mike Trout doubled and then scored when Taylor Ward hit the next pitch — a 100-mph fastball — to right field for a single in the first. Adell hit a solo homer in the seventh.

De La Cruz singled to lead off the fourth and scored when Andujar hit the fourth consecutive sinker thrown by Kyle Hendricks for a double. After Austin Hays walked, Marte doubled to drive in Andujar and give the Reds a 3-1 lead.

Marte extended his hitting streak to 10 games.

Key moment

After Marte struck out swinging to lead off the ninth, Trevino singled, Ke’Bryan Hayes was hit by a pitch and pinch-hitter Will Benson walked to load the bases before Friedl gave Cincinnati the lead for good.

Key stat

Greene is the first Reds pitcher to strike out at least 12 batters and walk none since Johnny Cueto on June 11, 2014.

Up next

Cincinnati’s Nick Martinez (10-9, 4.73 ERA) is set to pitch Wednesday against Yusei Kikuchi (6-8, 3.52) to wrap up a three-game series.

DETROIT — Taylor Ward homered and fell a triple short of the cycle, driving in three runs to help the Angels beat the Detroit Tigers 7-4 on Saturday night.

Ward had an RBI double in the first, singled and scored in the fourth and hit a two-run homer in the fifth. He grounded out in the seventh.

Angels starter Yusei Kikuchi (6-7) gave up four runs in five innings. Kenley Jansen pitched the ninth for his 21st save and his career-best 20th consecutive outing without conceding an earned run.

Detroit’s Charlie Morton (7-10) matched a season high with 10 strikeouts, but the 41-year-old gave up six runs on seven hits in 4⅓ innings.

The Angels (56-61) took a 1-0 lead in the first on Ward’s RBI double, and the Tigers (67-51) got two in the second on Andy Ibáñez’s RBI single and Jake Rogers’ sacrifice fly.

Morton struck out seven straight after Ward’s double, with Mike Trout breaking the streak with a leadoff groundout in the fourth. Ward singled, Morton hit Yoán Moncada, and Jo Adell hit a three-run homer to make it 4-2.

The Tigers tied it in the bottom of the inning on Matt Vierling’s sacrifice fly and Gleyber Torres’s RBI double.

Ward ended Morton’s night with a two-run homer in the fifth. Luis Rengifo made it 7-4 with a homer in the eighth.

Trailing 6-4, the Tigers had runners on first and second with no one out in the sixth, but Kikuchi struck out pinch-hitter Kerry Carpenter and got Torres to ground out.

DETROIT — Matt Vierling hit a three-run homer in the eighth inning and the Detroit Tigers beat the Angels 6-5 on Friday night.

With the Angels leading 5-3, reliever Reid Detmers (3-3) walked pinch-hitter Jahmai Jones and Gleyber Torres to start the inning. Vierling batted for Kerry Carpenter and hit his first homer of the season over the Detroit bullpen in left.

The Tigers avoided their third straight loss on a night when Tarik Skubal gave up back-to-back homers for the first time this season.

With one out in the fifth inning and the Tigers leading 3-1, Gustavo Campero hit a two-run homer to left. Two pitches later, the Angels (55-61) took the lead on Zach Neto’s second homer against Skubal this season.

Skubal struck out Nolan Schanuel, but Mike Trout ended Skubal’s shortest start of the season with an infield single.

Troy Melton (2-1) picked up the win with 2⅓ innings of relief. New Tigers closer Kyle Finnegan pitched the ninth for his 23rd save.

Logan O’Hoppe gave the Angels a 1-0 lead with an RBI double in the second, but Detroit (67-50) scored three times in the bottom of the inning.

Spencer Torkelson led off with his 25th homer, Riley Greene singled and took third on Zach McKinstry’s double. Javier Báez followed with a two-run bloop single to left.

Jo Adell’s 24th homer put the Angels ahead 5-3 in the eighth inning.

The game was delayed briefly in the third inning when Angels center fielder Bryce Teodosio stumbled catching a fly ball and hit his head on the fence. He stayed in the game but was replaced by Campero for the fourth inning.

Key moment: With one out and a runner on first in the seventh, Neto hit a 106.7-mph line drive to left, but Greene made a diving catch to help Melton escape the inning.

Key stat: Skubal hadn’t allowed back-to-back homers since Salvador Perez and Jorge Soler did it in the first inning of a 6-1 win for the Kansas City Royals on July 25, 2021.

Up next: The teams face each other again on Saturday evening, with Detroit RHP Charlie Morton (7-9, 5.20) making his second Tigers start against LHP Yusei Kikuchi (5-7, 3.22).

Jose Herrera hit a two-run double in a four-run fourth inning and the Arizona Diamondbacks avoided a three-game sweep with a 5-1 victory over the Angels on Sunday.

Blaze Alexander had two hits as the bottom of the Diamondbacks’ order was productive in a positive result just before the All-Star break. Alexander was batting eighth and Herrera ninth for Arizona, which won for just the fourth time in its past 12 games.

Diamondbacks right-hander Merrill Kelly (8-5) overcame early control trouble to give up one run and one hit over five innings. He had six strikeouts, with two of his four walks to the first three Angels batters of the game.

Mike Trout drove in a run for the Angels, who fell short in their bid to earn a third home series sweep since the start of June.

Angels right-hander José Soriano (6-7) gave up five runs, but just one was earned over five innings, with three walks.

The Angels led 1-0 after Trout’s RBI single in the third inning.

The Diamondbacks moved in front 4-1 in the fourth inning on a game-tying grounder from Eugenio Suarez, an RBI double from Alexander and Herrera’s two-run double. Suarez added an RBI double in the fifth.

Key moment: With runners at first and second and nobody out for the Diamondbacks in the fourth, Angels third baseman Yoan Moncada misplayed Suarez’s grounder to his left, opening the door for the four-run inning. Moncada, who has been bothered with knee soreness, was replaced on defense in the sixth inning by Kevin Newman.

Key stat: Kelly is 5-1 with a 2.67 ERA in his 11 starts that have come immediately after an Arizona loss, with opponents batting under .200 in those games.

Up next: Both teams return to action Friday after the All-Star break: Arizona is home to the St, Louis Cardinals; The Angels are at Philadelphia.

Mauricio Dubón homered twice and Josh Hader stayed perfect in 19 save chances this season by getting Mike Trout to line out to center field with a runner on second as the Houston Astros held off the Angels 8-7 in the rubber game of their series Sunday.

Dubón’s second career multihomer game began with a leadoff shot against starter Kyle Hendricks in the fifth inning for the Astros’ first run. Dubón added a two-run drive off Hunter Strickland for a 6-5 lead in the sixth.

Jeremy Peña had an RBI double and Jake Meyers added a sacrifice fly to make it 8-5.

Nolan Schanuel hit an RBI single for the Angels in the seventh, and Zach Neto trimmed it to 8-7 with a solo homer off Hader in the ninth. Schanuel finished with three hits and four RBIs.

Peña hit his 11th home run one out after Dubón’s shot in the fifth to tie it 2-2. Meyers singled, stole second and scored on a two-out error by Luis Rengifo at third base. Christian Walker followed with an RBI double for a 4-2 lead.

Taylor Ward had a two-out double off Astros rookie Ryan Gusto, and Logan O’Hoppe hit his third two-run homer in two days to give the Angels a 2-0 lead in the second. O’Hoppe has 17 home runs and is closing in on the team record for a catcher set by Lance Parrish with 22 in 1990.

LaMonte Wade Jr. and Christian Moore singled in the bottom half, and Schanuel gave the Angels a 5-4 lead with his sixth homer.

Gusto (5-3) allowed five runs and six hits in six innings with seven strikeouts.

Hendricks permitted five runs — three earned — in five innings. Strickland (1-2) worked an inning and was tagged with his first three earned runs this season.

Key moment: The Angels had a run in with two on and two outs down 8-6 in the seventh with Trout coming to bat. Bryan Abreu replaced Bryan King and needed just three pitches to strike out Trout swinging on a pitch in the dirt.

Key stat: Trout went one for 11 after entering the series as the active leader against Houston with 30 homers, 30 doubles and 73 RBIs.

Up next: Houston returns home to play the Philadelphia Phillies beginning Tuesday.

The Angels hadn’t announced a starter for Monday’s series opener against RHP Walker Buehler (5-5, 5.95 ERA) and the visiting Boston Red Sox.

OMAHA, Neb. — UCLA will wake up Tuesday morning with a chance to rally from a two-run deficit.

The Bruins’ winner’s bracket game against Louisiana State on Monday night was suspended until Tuesday at 8 a.m. PDT following a three-hour rain delay — it will resume in the top of the fourth inning with UCLA batting and LSU leading 5-3. The remainder of the game is scheduled to air on ESPN.

It allows UCLA to regroup after a promising start fell apart.

The Bruins jumped in front early with three straight RBIs. Roman Martin laced an RBI double to left field, AJ Salgado followed with an RBI single and Payton Brennan’s weak grounder to the pitcher was enough to score Martin. For the 29th time this season, UCLA scored first. They were 27-1 in such scenarios before Monday.

Then LSU answered with three straight singles before junior Jared Jones sent a Landon Stump fastball 368 feet to give the Tigers a 4-3 lead before the first inning ended. Stump’s night ended in the third inning but not before he was responsible for the runner who scored on a Luis Hernandez single that doubled LSU’s lead.

The grounds crew brought out the tarp before UCLA could respond. Charles Schwab Field remained in a weather delay for nearly three hours until the announcement was made to suspend the game until Tuesday morning.

Nolan Schanuel hit a single into shallow center field in the 10th inning for the first walk-off hit of his career to drive in Jo Adell and give the Angels a 2-1 win over the Athletics on Tuesday night.

Reid Detmers (2-2) struck out two of three batters to strand the automatic runner in the top of the 10th.

Hogan Harris (1-1) took the loss for the A’s, who have lost 22 of 26 games.

The Angels trailed 1-0 in the bottom of the eighth when Travis d’Arnaud hit left-hander T.J. McFarland’s first pitch for a pinch-hit homer and a 1-1 tie.

Angels starter José Soriano gave up one run and two hits and struck out a career-best 12 in seven innings. He walked two. He threw a career-high 110 pitches, 71 for strikes, and induced 22 swinging strikes.

The A’s Mitch Spence, making his second start since being moved from the bullpen, gave up three hits, struck out four and walked none in five scoreless innings.

Soriano was virtually untouchable through five no-hit innings in which he racked up nine strikeouts and walked one. He lost his no-hit bid in the sixth when Brent Rooker drove an RBI double to left-center field just beyond the reach of a diving Adell for a 1-0 A’s lead.

Veteran right-hander Hunter Strickland, who signed a minor league deal on May 6, escaped a runner-on-second, no-out jam in the eighth and has not yielded a run in 11 innings over nine appearances with the Angels.

D’Arnaud’s eighth-inning shot was the second pinch-hit homer of his career. His first came for the Atlanta Braves against the Colorado Rockies on Sept. 4, 2021.

There was rain, lightning and some comedic reactions for the strange June weather Tuesday that disrupted the opening day of the Southern California regional baseball and softball playoffs.

“Is it raining in June?” asked a stunned El Camino Real baseball player as a downpour fell in Woodland Hills before a Division 2 game against Point Loma. Two fans used artificial turf to shield their heads during a drizzle.

The Division 1 baseball game between Patrick Henry and host Santa Margarita was halted in the fourth inning with Patrick Henry leading 2-0 because of lightning. It will resume Wednesday. The Division 1 softball game between Poway and Ayala was postponed because of rain.

Most games eventually were played and finished.

Point Loma 6, El Camino Real 4: Trailing 6-1 going into the bottom of the seventh inning, the City Section Open Division champions gave Point Loma a scare, scoring three runs and having the bases loaded with two out until Hunter Weller ended the game with a strikeout in a Division 2 opener. Point Loma is the Division I champion from the San Diego Section.

Druw Frost had three hits. A three-run seventh aided by an El Camino Real error helped the Pointers. Phoenix Brant struck out five in 6 1/3 innings. RJ De La Rosa, JJ Saffie and Gavin Farley had RBI singles in the seventh for El Camino Real.

St. John Bosco 2, St. Augustine 1: Jack Champlin picked up the save after strong pitching from Griffin Tagliaferri and Brayden Krakowski. Moise Razo gave the Braves the lead in the third with an RBI double. St. John Bosco will host Villa Park on Thursday in the Division I semifinals.

Villa Park 5, Granite Hills 4: It took nine innings for Villa Park to prevail on the road. Nate Lewis had four hits and three RBIs, including the tiebreaker in the top of the ninth.

Crespi 4, Mater Dei 3: Mikey Martinez hit a three-run home run and Jackson Eisenhauer threw two hits of shutout relief with four strikeouts. Crespi will play the winner of Santa Margarita-Patrick Henry on Thursday.

University City 5, Birmingham 2: The Patriots gave up four runs in the seventh to fall in a Division III opener. University City will play Dos Pueblos, a 10-2 winner over St. Anthony.

Venice 5, Trinity Classical 2: Canon King had a double and triple and Daniel Quiroz added two hits and two RBIs for Venice, which will play at Mt. Carmel on Thursday.

Banning 3, Lemoore 2: The Pilots won their Division IV opener. Angelo Duarte had a walk-off single in the seventh. AJ Herrera had two hits and two RBIs.

Softball

Westlake 5, Rancho Bernardo 3: The Warriors won in Division II and will host Eastlake in the semifinals. Olivia White had a home run.

Legacy 5, Elsinore 4: Isabella Medina had two doubles in the Division III win. Breann Lipold hit two home runs for Elsinore. Legacy will play at St. Bonaventure, a 6-5 win over Southwest EC.

Taylor Ward hit his 15th home run and the host Angels beat the Miami Marlins 7-4 on Friday night for their eighth straight win.

Ward’s solo homer in the second inning gave him seven, including two grand slams, in his past 11 games. Jorge Soler also hit his seventh homer giving the Angels (25-25) at least two homers in a club-record seven straight games. They have homered in 13 consecutive games, the longest active MLB streak.

Ward added a sacrifice fly and Logan O’Hoppe an RBI double for a 3-0 lead in the fourth.

Catcher’s interference, a hit-by-pitch and a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded made it 6-0 in the sixth.

Yusei Kikuchi (1-4) went 5 2/3 scoreless innings, giving up seven hits and four walks while striking out five. He picked up his first win in 11 starts this season. Kenley Jansen walked two in the ninth but got his 11th save in 11 opportunities.

Ward’s homer gave him an extra-base hit in nine straight games, tying Darin Erstad (1998) for the club record.

Sandy Alcantara (2-7) went 5 1/3 innings, giving up six runs, five earned, with two walks and six strikeouts for Miami (19-30).

Eric Wagaman had three hits including his fourth homer of the season in the seventh and a two-run single in the eighth.

Kyle Stowers had an RBI double among his three hits. He has a 20-game on-base streak and has hit safely in 10 straight.

Key moment: Hunter Strickland relieved Kikuchi with two outs and the bases loaded in the sixth. Liam Hicks hit a soft grounder that shortstop Zach Neto charged and threw to first to barely get Hicks.

Up next: Miami’s Cal Quantrill (3-4, 6.47 ERA) pitches against the Angels’ José Soriano (3-4, 3.57) on Saturday.

Tuesday didn’t start as a game the Dodgers necessarily had to win.

But, by the time extra innings arrived on a nervy night at Dodger Stadium, the team was in a situation where they simply couldn’t afford to lose.

Not after entering the day with four consecutive losses, a season-long skid caused primarily by a banged-up pitching staff. Not after Yoshinobu Yamamoto looked like an ace, a stopper and a Cy Young candidate all wrapped in one, spinning seven scoreless innings in a nine-strikeout gem. And certainly not with his brilliance in danger of being wasted after closer Tanner Scott blew a one-run lead in the top of the ninth inning before yielding a two-run blast in the top of the 10th.

“I don’t know if it was a must-win,” manager Dave Roberts said, sidestepping such superlatives with the season still only two months old. “But certainly given Yoshi’s outing, you don’t wanna waste that … You just can’t lose on nights that Yamamoto throws [that well].”

Somehow, in a 4-3 walk-off victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Dodgers didn’t; flipping the script, changing the narrative and snapping their losing streak with the most dramatic of endings.

Down by two runs entering the bottom of the 10th, the Dodgers immediately cut the deficit in half with a leadoff RBI double from Tommy Edman. Shohei Ohtani was intentionally walked, Mookie Betts advanced Edman with a fly ball, Ohtani stole second, and Freddie Freeman was intentionally walked with first base open. With the bases loaded, Will Smith got plunked by former Dodgers reliever Shelby Miller to force home the tying score. And then, finally, Max Muncy walked it off with a sacrifice fly to deep center, easily scoring Ohtani from third for a victory that felt both hard-earned and hardly deserved.

“I think it showed a lot out of us,” Muncy said afterward, standing in a celebratory clubhouse after what could prove to be a pivotal point in the season.

“We got punched in the mouth, and for us to punch right back, I think that was really big out of the group, out of the guys,” Muncy added. “Everyone not giving up, not hanging their head — we still had a chance to win the game. And guys went out there and did it.”

Yoshinobu Yamamoto reacts after striking out Arizona’s Pavin Smith to retire end the seventh inning.

(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)

Winning, of course, should have been a much simpler task for the Dodgers (30-19) on Tuesday night.

Yamamoto was spectacular, giving up no hits through his first six innings, stranding runners on the corners to complete his night in the seventh, and providing the Dodgers with the kind of outing that has been missing from their rotation amid a wave of crippling injuries over the last several weeks.

“Yoshi was fantastic,” Roberts said. “We needed every bit of it.”

An equally banged-up bullpen avoided disaster in the eighth, when Alex Vesia and Ben Casparius combined to work through a bases-loaded jam that preserved a narrow 1-0 lead.

“We just kept fighting,” Smith said. “That [was a] big shutdown inning.”

But all along, the Dodgers failed to open any cushion to fall back on late. Their only early scoring was courtesy of back-to-back two-out doubles from Freeman and Smith in the bottom of the fourth. In the seventh and eighth, they squandered opportunities for insurance, stranding a leadoff single from Muncy and a one-out double from Ohtani.

That meant, when Scott caught too much plate with an up-and-in fastball to Gabriel Moreno in the ninth, all it took was one swing to change the game, Moreno skying a solo blast that carried just far enough down the left field line.

“Just left it too much on the plate,” said Scott, who blew his third save in 12 opportunities.

Freddie Freeman scores on a double by Will Smith in the fourth inning.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

After the Dodgers came up empty again in the ninth — Kiké Hernández struck out in what started as a 3-and-0 count with two runners aboard — Scott made the same mistake to Corbin Carroll in the 10th, serving up a belt-high fastball the undersized slugger whacked the other way for a two-run blast.

“You sit there in the [10th] inning, you’re down two runs, and your bullpen is completely taxed,” Roberts said, “those [kind of losses] really sting.”

Instead, the Dodgers rallied, with Anthony Banda limiting any further damage in the top of the 10th before the lineup rallied in the bottom half.

“It’s a big swing,” Roberts said. “To get a win tonight, I’m gonna sleep a lot better.”

Without Yamamoto, none of it would have been possible.

After giving up eight runs over 11 combined innings in his previous two starts, every part of the 26-year-old right-hander’s stuff played up on Tuesday night. His fastball averaged 96 mph. His curveball induced one helpless swing from the Diamondbacks (26-23) after another. And until Ketel Marte singled on a line drive off the wall to lead off the seventh, it was starting to seem like an elevated pitch count (Yamamoto began that inning with 90 pitches, and finished his outing with an MLB career high of 110) might be the only thing standing between him and a pursuit of a nine-inning no-no.

“I thought he was going to go the distance tonight,” Muncy said of Yamamoto, who dropped his ERA to 1.86 with his third career MLB start of seven scoreless frames. “I thought he had the stuff to get the no-hitter.”

That’s why, when the game started to spiral out of control later, and their losing streak seemed primed to continue in the most painful way possible, the Dodgers entered the 10th inning knowing they needed to respond, and wary of the repercussions that would have accompanied such a crushing, wasteful loss.

“They [tied it] and then flipped the game, but we came back,” Yamamoto said through his interpreter afterward, his no-decision not feeling so bad after what transpired in the bottom of the 10th.

“A win like this is great,” he added.

Echoed Roberts: “We just put some at-bats together, man. And it was much needed.”

Leave it up to Seth Hernandez of top-seeded Corona High to find a way to impress the many pro baseball scouts attending Tuesday’s Southern Section Division 1 playoff opener with not just his arm but his bat.

He hit two three-run home runs to help Corona defeat Los Osos 11-2. Corona trailed 2-0 into the third inning until the Panthers started going deep. First was a home run by Jesiah Andrade. Then Hernandez started sending balls over the fence. He also struck out 10 and walked one in six innings.

Seth Hernandez of Corona celebrates his second three-run home run.

(Nick Koza)

Corona advances to play Big VIII rival Norco in Friday’s quarterfinals.

Norco 4, Laguna Beach 2: Dylan Seward had three hits and four RBIs while Landon Hovermale threw a complete game.

Crespi 5, El Dorado 2: The Celts rallied for four runs in the sixth inning. Diego Velazquez had a two-run double. Jackson Eisenhauer threw a complete game, striking out seven. Crespi will play Mira Costa in the quarterfinals.

Mira Costa 5, Arcadia 4: An RBI double by Joaquin Scholer in the fifth inning broke a 4-4 tie. He finished with two doubles.

Los Alamitos 8, Orange Lutheran 0: Tyler Smith drove in four runs and three pitchers combined on a five-hit shutout to eliminate the Lancers. Los Alamitos will play Santa Margarita on Friday.

Santa Margarita 6, Huntington Beach 5: Chase Marlow singled in the go-ahead run in the seventh inning to give the Eagles an upset over Sunset League champion Huntington Beach. Brennan Bauer struck out four in 4 1/3 innings of relief.

Villa Park 8, Aquinas 2: Jake Nobles struck out five with no walks over five innings and Val Lopez had three hits and two RBIs. Villa Park will play St. John Bosco on Friday.

St. John Bosco 5, Vista Murrieta 4: Noah Everly had three hits and two RBIs while Miles Clark homered for the Braves, who rallied with a three-run sixth inning.

West Ranch 12, Crean Lutheran 0: Mikey Murr and Matt Castellon combined on a no-hitter in Division 2.

Sultana 6, Loyola 5: The Cubs dropped the Division 2 game on an error in the ninth inning.

Servite 12, Anaheim Canyon 1: Tomas Cernius hit a three-run home run and Michael Cabral had four RBIs. Servite will play Etiwanda in the Division 2 quarterfinals.

Etiwanda 6, Gahr 1: Angel Mejia finished with four RBIs and Nico Hamilton threw six innings for the Eagles.

Torrance 3, Oaks Christian 2: Mateo Rickman hit a three-run home run to power Torrance, which will face Fountain Valley on Friday.

Fountain Valley 7, Trabuco Hills 0: Josh Grack threw the shutout and also contributed two RBIs.

Foothill 3, San Clemente 2: Ezekiel Vargas and Aidan Colburn each had two hits for Foothill, which plays Mater Dei on Friday.

Mater Dei 6, Simi Valley 4: The Monarchs eliminated second-seeded Simi Valley by scoring six runs in the top of the seventh inning. Brady Guth hit a three-run home run.