LOS ANGELES — Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and the surprising Arizona Diamondbacks ambushed the Dodgers early to beat Los Angeles 4-2 on Monday, relying on a hot start from Zach Gallen to take a 2-0 lead in the National League Division Series.
The young Diamondbacks team, which earned the last wild-card spot in the National League despite losing its last four regular-season games, They went 4-0 in the playoffs – All on the road against teams that won their division.
“This is a team that is hungry to win and feels like it has a lot to prove,” Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said.
They will try to pull off the upset by sweeping the Dodgers, who won 100 regular-season games, when the best-of-five series moves to Arizona for Game 3 on Wednesday.
“It’s been two games, but we’re up against the wall. We’ve got to make an adjustment. We’re out of margin,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.
Gallen allowed two runs in 5 1/3 innings to earn his second playoff win. Gurriel had an RBI single to cap a three-run first inning, pulling Diamondbacks starter Bobby Miller in the second — two days after Los Angeles star Clayton Kershaw allowed six runs in an 11-2 loss in the first. Game.
Gurriel Jr. added a home run in the sixth to make it 4-1. Paul Seewald pitched a perfect ninth in his third save of the postseason, aided by a great catch from Gurriel to left field.
Gallen retired nine straight in his second playoff start. A winner of 17 games during the campaign, the right-hander allowed five hits, struck out four, and walked two.
For the Diamondbacks, Dominican Ketel Marte was 2-for-5 with one run scored. Venezuelan Gabriel Moreno is 4-0 with an RBI. Cuban Lourdes Gurriel Jr. is 4-2 with one run scored and one RBI.
The Dodgers beat Venezuelans David Peralta 2-0 and Miguel Rojas 2-1. Puerto Rican Enrique Hernandez went 1-for-2 with an RBI.