LOS ANGELES — On a day when Shohei Ohtani was named a starter on the National League All-Star team, the Dodgers had to wonder why the Arizona Diamondbacks’ Christian Walker was not included in the group.
From the Dodgers’ perspective, Walker is about as good as major league players get and his two home runs, along with four hits on Wednesday night, were prime examples as the Diamondbacks rallied for a 12-4 victory.
Walker now has seven home runs in eight games against the Dodgers this season and five in five games at Dodger Stadium as Arizona overcame a three-run deficit in the first inning.
“Yeah, the numbers, it’s like better than Shohei at Dodger Stadium,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of Walker, who now has 17 home runs in 41 career games at Chavez Ravine. “I think it’s a division rival and I do think we bring out the best in him. He plays really well at home against us, but at this ballpark it’s otherworldly. He doesn’t give anything away. I’ve said, he’s one of the guys who I really enjoy watching play.”
Expected to have the advantage on Wednesday, Dodgers rookie Gavin Stone could not leverage his recent run of success in a matchup with Diamondbacks right-hander Cristian Mena, who was making his major league debut.
Both starters gave up four runs in three innings, with Stone’s outing coming after he went 4-0 with a 1.97 ERA in five June starts and had a 1.62 ERA over his last six outings.
“My arm felt good but just the command wasn’t there completely,” said Stone, who threw a complete-game five-hit shutout against the Chicago White Sox last week. “You just have to forget about it.”
Mena was in trouble from the outset as each of the Dodgers’ first five hitters reached base. Shohei Ohtani singled, Will Smith walked and Freddie Freeman hit a three-run home run, his 13th. Teoscar Hernandez followed with a home run of his own, his 19th.
It was the sixth time this season the Dodgers hit back-to-back home runs and…
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