D-backs push Dodgers to the brink in Game 2 win

LOS ANGELES -- Two days after banishing the ghosts of Dodger Stadium that had haunted them, the D-backs on Monday night crept ever so close to sending the Dodgers to an early winter vacation.

The D-backs once again jumped out to a first-inning lead and they beat the Dodgers, 4-2, to take a commanding 2-0 lead in the best-of-five National League Division Series.

It certainly wasn’t something the baseball world was expecting given that the Dodgers won 100 games and the NL West title while the D-backs won 84 and squeaked in as the final NL Wild Card team.

“Realistically, I was hoping to leave here with one win,” D-backs veteran outfielder Tommy Pham said. “And we got two, so even better.”

In all best-of-five postseason series, teams to take a 2-0 lead have gone on to win the series 78 of 88 times (89%). In Division Series with the current 2-2-1 format, 14 of the 16 clubs (88%) to win Games 1 and 2 on the road have advanced, including 10 via sweep. The last team to lose in that particular situation was the 2015 Rangers, who took a 2-0 lead at Toronto before dropping three straight.

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Game 3 will be Wednesday night at Chase Field with the D-backs looking for a sweep after they swept the Brewers in two games in the NL Wild Card Series last week in Milwaukee.

The D-backs announced Monday that Game 3 is sold out. After playing the first four postseason games on the road, they are looking forward to getting a boost from the home crowd.

“Definitely leaving here with two wins is a good feeling, and going back home is going to be awesome,” outfielder Alek Thomas said. “So hopefully D-backs fans show up and show out. It's gonna be real cool.”

For the second straight night, the D-backs set the tone early.

After scoring six runs in the first inning of Game 1 off Clayton Kershaw, the D-backs jumped on Dodgers rookie starter Bobby Miller for three this time.

“Those are great pitchers, and just things have been going our way,” Pham said.

Toward the end of the season, the D-backs’ offense went into a collective slump as Arizona lost its final four games. At the time, manager Torey Lovullo said he wanted to see more “mature” at-bats from his young team, meaning he wanted them to not chase so many pitches outside the zone.

Something flipped with the offense once the postseason hit, because Arizona hitters have been locked in from the start, refusing to swing at borderline pitches.

“I think that maybe there's been a few less pitches over the plate,” D-backs outfielder Corbin Carroll said. “And we've just done a good job of not getting outside of ourselves and trying to make something happen. Just take what they give us. Especially in that Milwaukee series, like realizing the quality of our at-bats would dictate who we saw the next night and stuff like that. There was just a good buy-in from everyone.”

Carroll has once again led the offense. With three walks and a single on Monday, he has now reached base safely 12 times in his first four career postseason games. That’s tied for the most by a rookie in his first four career postseason games with the Rangers’ Evan Carter, who matched the feat this year.

“It's the speed component, it's the bat to ball,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of what makes Carroll so good. “When he puts the ball on the ground, there's a chance for an infield hit. And he controls the zone. Even Bobby today, that first at-bat, he threw a couple of borderline pitches and the moment clearly isn't getting too big for him. He knows how to conduct at-bats.”

As the D-backs loaded up their buses for the ride to the airport and flight home, they had some carry-on luggage they didn’t have when they got to Los Angeles -- the knowledge that they can beat the Dodgers in their home park, a place that had bedeviled Arizona for years.

“We don't want to let this team hang around,” D-backs first baseman Christian Walker said. “We want to put a foot on their necks and move on.”

The Dodgers, with all their talent and postseason experience, though, are a proud team that won’t go down without a fight.

“We've won three games in a row [before],” Roberts said. “We're very familiar with this ballclub. They're playing good baseball, and we've got to find a way to flip the script.”