After trailing for most of Monday night's game, the Arizona Diamondbacks' clutch, four-run rally overcame a two-run deficit and Heath Bell's horrendous pitching to seal a 5-4 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Heading into the ninth inning, the D-backs trailed 3-1 with little hope of winning; yet, Arizona willed home four runs in the top of the ninth.
After Dodgers' ace Clayton Kershaw (5-4, 1.88 ERA) made the D-backs hitters look silly for seven innings, Arizona was ecstatic to face Brandon League (2-3, 6.00).
League quickly allowed a runner to reach third base and the slow-footed Jason Kubel was able to leg-out an RBI infield single. League then loaded the bases for Willy Bloomquist, who squeaked an infield single up the middle, which scored two runs and gave the D-backs' their first lead of the game.
And of course, a Diamondbacks rally would not be complete if Paul Goldschmidt didn't get in on the action; he swatted a single to left to bring in the fifth run of the game for Arizona.
Unfortunately, the game was far from over thanks to Heath Bell (2-1, 3.51). When Bell entered the game, Steve Berthiaume called him the "Heath Bell Experience," which can only lead to terrible things.
"The Heath Bell Experience" sounds like a ride that both makes you nautcious and gives you a euphoric adrenaline rush at the same time.
— Greg Esposito (@Espo) June 11, 2013
First, Bell allowed a homerun to Juan Uribe. Next, Tim Federowicz doubled down the right field line. Federowicz advanced to third after Bell stupidly ran into the usually sure-handed Martin Prado, causing him to fumble the ball.
With runners on the corners and Bell still on the mound, the outcome looked bleak for the Diamondbacks, but something clicked in Bell's head, finally. Bell retired the next three hitters without surrendering a run and picked up his 12th save of the year. Although, Bell did try to lose the game once more when he dropped a soft grounder hit straight to him, but he managed to recover in time to record the final out.
Besides Bell, Arizona's pitching was solid Monday night.
Wade Miley (4-5, 4.89) had another quality start, pitching six innings and giving up three runs. Charles Brewer (0-0, 0.00) and Tony Sipp (3-1, 3.66) combined to throw two scoreless innings with the help of a spectacular catch by right-fielder Gerardo Parra.
Arizona (36-28) plays the Dodgers (27-36) again tonight at 7:10 p.m. and will put Ian Kennedy (3-4, 5.72) on the mound to face Zach Greinke (3-1, 3.89).
