Victorino Makes Dodgers Debut At LF, Get Swept By Diamondbacks
LOS ANGELES (AP) Patrick Corbin pitched two-hit ball over six innings following his promotion from the minors Wednesday, and the Arizona Diamondbacks got home runs from Miguel Montero and newcomer Chris Johnson in a 4-0 victory that completed a three-game sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Montero opened the scoring in the second inning with an RBI single against rookie Stephen Fife and made it 4-0 in the eighth with his 13th homer, a two-run shot off Randy Choate. Montero's three RBIs raised his season total to 64, the most among catchers.
The Diamondbacks outscored the Dodgers 19-4 in their first three-game sweep at Chavez Ravine since August 2007.
Corbin (3-4) struck out five and walked two in his sixth major league start after spending the previous two months with Triple-A Reno, where he was 3-2 with a 3.44 ERA in nine starts.
The 23-year-old left-hander made five starts and five relief appearances for Arizona earlier this season with a 4.15 ERA. He started against the Dodgers on May 21, giving up two runs over 5 1-3 innings in a 6-1 loss at Chase Field.
The Dodgers' only hits in the game were a two-out single by Matt Kemp in the first inning and a two-out single by Fife in the second.
Fife (0-1) allowed two runs and six hits over 4 1-3 innings, a year to the day that the Dodgers acquired the 25-year-old right-hander in a multiplayer trade with Boston. He has yielded four runs in 16 1-3 innings during his three big league starts, but has walked three batters in each one.
Shane Victorino was 0 for 4 in his Dodgers debut in left field, a day after he was acquired from Philadelphia during the final hours before the non-waiver trade deadline. It was a homecoming of sorts for the two-time All-Star and three-time Gold Glove winner, who was selected by Los Angeles in the sixth round of the 1999 draft.
A heads-up baserunning play by Paul Goldschmidt helped the Diamondbacks score their first run after he singled on Fife's first pitch of the second inning. Dodgers catcher A.J. Ellis made a sensational, diving grab of Justin Upton's bunt after sprinting about 30 feet to the left of the plate, but Goldschmidt got to second after tagging up, and Montero singled him home.
Johnson made it 2-0 in the fourth with his 10th homer, driving a 2-0 pitch to center. In three games with the Diamondbacks after being acquired from Houston on Friday, he is 6 for 11 with seven RBIs - including a grand slam against Aaron Harang in the series opener - and has been on base eight times in 13 plate appearances. Johnson is 11 for 22 with three homers and 10 RBIs in his last six games overall.
NOTES: Goldschmidt was 8 for 11 with five RBIs in the series, including first-inning homers in each of the first two games. ... Two-time All-Star Bobby Abreu, a 17-year veteran who spent the past three months as a part-time left fielder and pinch-hitter for the Dodgers after the Angels released him, was designated for assignment to clear a roster spot for Victorino. "He handled it well," manager Don Mattingly said. "Bobby's a professional, and up to this point he's had a great career. If he doesn't get claimed, he could end up back here with the expansion of the rosters. But Bobby's got his own decision to make as to what he'd like to do." ... Mattingly switched to uniform No. 12 so that Victorino could have his familiar No. 8. ... Victorino became the eighth player Mattingly has used in the leadoff spot this season, and the ninth to start in LF.
