Christian Walker hits two more homers in a 9-4 rout of the Dodgers

We’ve run out of superlatives to describe Christian Walker’s dominance at Dodger Stadium. The Arizona Diamondbacks first baseman was the first to spring a surprise on July 4 by hitting two more home runs in a 9-3 rout of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Walker’s first homer came in the first inning, a 435-foot blast to left field. Joc Pederson had hit a solo shot just before Walker.

The second homer was a two-run shot in the third inning, giving the D-backs a 4-3 lead at the time. It was the second straight night Walker hit two homers.

It was Walker’s eighth hit and fifth homer of the series, and he also drove in nine runs. In six games at Dodger Stadium this year, he has hit seven homers. In nine games against the Dodgers this year, including home games, he has nine homers and 15 RBIs.

Walker was humble, as always, about his power outburst this week. “It’s easy to try to go in there and hit home runs, so I try not to do too much, keep it simple and trust my plan. To be honest, it’s crazy for me, too.”

Torey Lovullo spoke about Walker’s work ethic and consistency. “Christian is a self-made man, he’s a coach’s dream, a manager’s dream. He has a schedule, there’s a routine to everything he does… he does all the little things to make sure his game is on point. He deserves what he gets in this game.”

The Dodgers managed to turn the game into a ball game in the middle innings. Zac Gallen was averaging 97 MPH with his fastball and reached 98 MPH during the first two innings. However, he had some issues with his control and the Dodgers were able to hit a lot of foul pitches, which increased their pitch count.

That finally paid off for LA as they got to Gallen with three runs in the fourth inning. Two singles and a one-out walk loaded the bases. An RBI groundout was followed by Austin Barnes’ pop-out single to left field, scoring two more.

Gallen’s night ended after four innings when Torey Lovullo gave him the leadoff hit with 85 pitches. His final tally was 4 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 3 BB and 4 K.

Justin Martinez came on to pitch the fifth inning. A pair of runners reached base on swinging bunt hits, but Martinez had arguably the best stuff he’s ever displayed in a game. He struck out two batters to end the inning. Then Martinez retired all three batters in order in the sixth inning on just six pitches.

That allowed Lovullo to send Martinez back in for the seventh inning. He struck out Shohei Ohtani and Teoscar Hernandez and got Freddie Freeman to ground out to shortstop to end three dominant innings. He walked none and struck out five. His record now stands at 3-0 with a 1.54 ERA.

Lovullo said: “We won this game because of Justin Martinez and Christian Walker.”

All-Star Ketel Marte hit an RBI single in the fifth inning to extend the D-backs’ lead to 5-3. The D-backs sent nine men to the plate in the ninth inning. After loading the bases with two outs, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. hit a two-run single and Gabriel Moreno hit a two-run double, his third hit of the night.

Ryan Thompson retired all three batters in order in the eighth inning, and Thyago Vieira got the better of him, striking out all three batters in the ninth. The bullpen’s five scoreless innings added to last night’s six scoreless innings of relief.

Between Gallen and the bullpen, the D-backs’ pitching staff held Ohtani and Freeman to 0-for-7 with six strikeouts.

There were also four stolen bases by four different players: Alek Thomas, Corbin Carroll, Marte and Moreno. There were also two outstanding catches in the field, one by Carroll and one by Thomas. It was a near-perfect game and a perfect series for the Diamondbacks.

Truth be told, this should have been a sweep if not for a blown save in the ninth inning on Tuesday night. The Diamondbacks were aggressive throughout the series from the first inning of Game 1. They will have to settle for winning both three-game series at Dodger Stadium this year by two games to one.

Their record improves to 43-44. They remain 2.5 games out of the third NL wild-card spot behind the St. Louis Cardinals, who have a record of 45-41.

The D-backs head to San Diego to play another big series against the Padres. The first of a three-game series will be played Friday night at 6:40 p.m. Slade Cecconi will start against Randy Vasquez for the Padres.