Christian Walker continued his impressive performance at Dodger Stadium on Thursday night, hitting home runs in his first two turns at bat. These were his 18th and 19th home runs in the 42 games he has played at the ballpark. The Arizona Diamondbacks defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 9-3.
“It’s just unbelievable,” Walker said. “I’m really at a loss for words.” The Dodgers, who lead the NL West, now have a 4-5 record against the Diamondbacks this season. They won’t face Arizona again in Los Angeles until the postseason, if at all. Arizona caused an upset against the Dodgers in last year’s playoffs.
Joc Pederson received boos from the full-capacity crowd of 52,320 when he hit a home run against his former team in the first inning. Shortly after, Walker hit a massive 435-foot home run to center field off rookie pitcher Landon Knack with two outs.
“When you get booed, it usually means you’re doing something good that the fans don’t like,” Pederson remarked.
In the third inning, Walker was facing a two-strike count when he hit another two-run homer to left field, increasing Arizona’s lead to 4-0. The 33-year-old slugger has now hit home runs in five consecutive games at Dodger Stadium and has a total of nine home runs this season against Dodgers pitchers.
“I’m really proud of this accomplishment; it’s an incredible feeling,” Walker said. “It’s something that doesn’t happen often. I couldn’t have done it without my teammates and the coaching staff.”
Walker hails from Norristown, Pennsylvania, the same hometown as the late Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda. Although he was drafted by the Dodgers in 2009, he chose to play college baseball at the University of South Carolina instead, where he helped his team win the College World Series in 2010 and 2011.
In the fifth inning, Walker received his first intentional walk of the series with two outs. He was retired on a groundout in the seventh inning but drew a walk to load the bases in the ninth inning with two outs.
“When they decided to walk him, I felt relieved,” said D-backs starter Zac Gallen. “He’s on fire right now.”
Justin Martinez (3-0) earned the win after pitching three innings in relief. The Diamondbacks scored 14 consecutive runs from the third inning of their 12-4 win on Wednesday— which was the Dodgers’ largest loss of the season— through the third inning on Thursday.
