Smith’s pinch-hit homer in 9th inning gives Dodgers a 5-4 win over Diamondbacks
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Pinch-hitter Will Smith homered leading off the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday that prevented a three-game sweep.
Los Angeles took a two-game lead in the NL West over rival San Diego, which lost 7-2 at Minnesota.
Smith sent the second pitch he saw from reliever John Curtiss (2-1) a projected 420 feet into the left-center stands. His 17th home run of the season saved the Dodgers after they blew a late lead.
Corbin Carroll tied it 4-all by launching a three-run homer off Tanner Scott with two outs in the eighth.
Blake Treinen (1-2) pitched a perfect inning for the win.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed one run in seven innings and matched his career high with 10 strikeouts for the Dodgers. He retired his first 10 batters before Ketel Marte bunted for a single.
Carroll, Marte and Adrian Del Castillo each had two hits for the Diamondbacks. Brandon Pfaadt permitted eight hits and four runs over 4 1/3 innings.
Andy Pages drove in two runs for the Dodgers. Freddie Freeman had an early RBI double and Miguel Rojas added a run-scoring single.
Key moment
Smith had the day off before being called upon to bat for Dalton Rushing in the ninth. Smith fouled back the first pitch before jumping on Curtiss’ 96.4 mph fastball over the heart of the plate and driving it 10 rows up into the bleachers.
Key stat
Yamamoto has completed at least seven innings in five of his last 10 starts. He previously completed seven innings only three times in his first 34 career starts.
Up next
Diamondbacks RHP Ryne Nelson (7-3, 3.53 ERA) pitches Monday against Texas.
Dodgers LHP Clayton Kershaw (9-2, 3.06) opens a three-game series at Pittsburgh on Tuesday.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
