Eduardo Rodriguez throws gem, but Dodgers come back late to sweep Diamondbacks

LOS ANGELES — Diamondbacks starter Eduardo Rodriguez delivered five innings without an earned run, but Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Will Smith took Arizona reliever Juan Morillo deep for the game-winning, two-run home run in the eighth inning on Saturday.

Los Angeles held on for a 3-2 win, sweeping Arizona in the opening series of the regular season.

The Diamondbacks are 0-3 for the first time since 2021, as the Dodgers took leads in the eighth inning of back-to-back games to leave the D-backs feeling frustrated that they were right there.

“That’s a great team, but we also feel like we’re a good team,” catcher James McCann said.

“Tonight, we were a couple pitches away from at least getting to the ninth inning with the lead. There’s a good team over there, there’s a good team here and there was some good baseball played the last three days. Hopefully we can carry over the positives and move forward.”

The Diamondbacks took a 2-0 lead for the third game in a row, this time via Pavin Smith RBI single in the first inning and Corbin Carroll sacrifice fly in the third off Dodgers starter Tyler Glasnow.

Geraldo Perdomo nearly gave the D-backs a 3-0 lead in the sixth, but Dodgers right fielder Kyle Tucker made a leaping grab at the wall to rob Perdomo of a potential home run.

Arizona recorded one hit after the third inning, a theme of this series for the offense, and did not give the bullpen enough of a buffer against a dangerous L.A. lineup.

James McCann and Torey Lovullo on bouncing back after this series: pic.twitter.com/wqZ4lfFijO

— Alex Weiner (@alexjweiner) March 29, 2026

Eduardo Rodriguez deals vs. Dodgers

Rodriguez continued the strong form he showed in the World Baseball Classic when he blanked the United States for 4.1 innings in the final for Venezuela.

The left-hander has had to face gauntlet lineups this spring, going up against the Dominican Republic and United States in the WBC before facing the Dodgers to start his regular season.

Rodriguez allowed only four singles on Saturday, each in a separate inning, with two walks and five strikeouts. He struck out three batters in the fourth inning and used the changeup and three fastballs to draw weak contact.

McCann said Rodriguez did well mixing his pitches and working to both sides of the plate.

“Went out there for five innings, that was really good. I was mixing all my pitches, using everything that I have and we had a really good plan,” Rodriguez said. “We got out there and executed it, so everything was working really well.”

The Dodgers broke through with an unearned run in the sixth after a Carlos Santana fielding error ended Rodriguez’s night, followed by a Freddie Freeman RBI double off reliever Jonathan Loaisiga.

Rodriguez took responsibility for the error, saying he was late to cover the bag and that’s why the runner was safe.

Diamondbacks piecing together the bullpen

The Diamondbacks trailed going into the late inning on Opening Day Thursday and were tied on Friday until the eighth inning.

With a slim lead, manager Torey Lovullo had the chance to piece together a bullpen to hold it, keeping in mind Ryan Thompson threw in the first two games.

Loaisiga was first to finish the sixth inning, followed by presumed long reliever Joe Ross and Morillo. Ross threw a 1-2-3 seventh inning in his D-backs debut.

What happened in the 8th inning?

Morillo recorded the first two outs but walked Mookie Betts ahead of Smith. That at-bat was odd, as Morillo and McCann were crossed up on the first pitch, and a fastball drilled home-plate umpire Jansen Visconti in the face mask.

McCann said he called for a curveball on the PitchComm, but with the crowd noise Morillo heard fastball.

Visconti was alright and stayed behind the plate, but there was a delay in the action. That’s when Morillo walked Betts on four pitches.

McCann thought there was a chance the stoppage halted Morillo’s momentum, but he admitted that the home run ball was not a terrible pitch.

Morillo had Smith down 0-2 in the count, but Smith — on his birthday and bobblehead night, of course — climbed the ladder and crushed a 98 mph fastball to center field.

“They’ve got three or four guys that are built for a big moment, and Will Smith is one of them,” D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said.

Paul Sewald cleaned up the eighth inning.

Edwin Diaz recorded the save for Los Angeles, his second in as many nights.

The D-backs lost the last two games by a combined score of 8-6.

“Overall, we won a lot of innings of baseball over the course of this three-game series, yet we’re 0-3,” Lovullo said. “So that’s frustrating. It’s very frustrating. But, the Dodgers were built this way. … This is a tough series. No doubt about it.”

Diamondbacks next game

The D-backs get Sunday off before taking on the Detroit Tigers on Monday for the home opener at Chase Field.

Michael Soroka will get the start for Arizona, his club debut, with veteran right-hander Justin Verlander pitching for Detroit.

First pitch is at 7:10 p.m. MST.

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