The Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman, left, celebrates with teammate James Outman after scoring a run during the third inning of their game against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday night in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Dodgers starting pitcher Dustin May throws to the plate during the first inning of their game against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday night in Phoenix. (Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images)
The Dodgers’ Max Muncy watches his infield ground ball during the third inning of their game against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday night in Phoenix. Muncy reached safely on a throwing error. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Merrill Kelly throws to the plate during the first inning of their game against the Dodgers on Thursday night in Phoenix. (Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images)
The Dodgers’ J.D. Martinez connects for a run-scoring double during the third inning of their game against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday night in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
The Dodgers’ Max Muncy scores as Arizona Diamondbacks catcher Gabriel Moreno waits for a late throw during the third inning on Thursday night in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
The Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman scores during the third inning of their game against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday night in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Arizona Diamondbacks third baseman Josh Rojas, left, reaches to tag out the Dodgers’ J.D. Martinez at third base as Dodgers third base coach Dino Ebel looks on during the third inning on Thursday night in Phoenix. Martinez was trying to advance to third on his double. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Dodgers starting pitcher Dustin May throws to the plate during the first inning of their game against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday night in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
The Dodgers’ Max Muncy, right, reaches first base safely as Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Merrill Kelly, left, is unable to make a catch on a throwing error by the Diamondbacks’ Geraldo Perdomo during the third inning on Thursday night in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Arizona Diamondbacks third baseman Josh Rojas comes up short diving to try to field a double off the bat of the Dodgers’ Will Smith during the sixth inning on Thursday night in Phoenix. (Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images)
The Dodgers’ Will Smith gestures to the dugout after hitting a double during the sixth inning of their game against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday night in Phoenix. (Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images)
The Dodgers’ J.D. Martinez tosses his bat away after earning a walk during the sixth inning of their game against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday night in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Arizona Diamondbacks shortstop Geraldo Perdomo reaches out to catch the ball at second base to force out the Dodgers’ J.D. Martinez during the sixth inning on Thursday night in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
The Dodgers’ James Outman, center, gestures to the dugout after hitting an RBI single during the sixth inning of their game against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday night in Phoenix. (Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images)
Dodgers starting pitcher Dustin May throws to the plate during the first inning of their game against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday night in Phoenix. (Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images)
The Arizona Diamondbacks’ Josh Rojas watches his RBI double during the sixth inning of their game against the Dodgers on Thursday night in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
The Dodgers’ Mookie Betts tosses his bat after striking out during the seventh inning of their game against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday night in Phoenix. (Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images)
The Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run during the seventh inning of their game against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday night in Phoenix. (Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images)
The Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman, right, celebrates his home run with Max Muncy during the seventh inning of their game against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday night in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
The Arizona Diamondbacks’ Josh Rojas grimaces as he watches his long fly ball curve foul during the seventh inning of their game against the Dodgers on Thursday night in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Dodgers relief pitcher Yency Almonte slaps his chest after recording the final out of the seventh inning of their game against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday night in Phoenix. Almonte nearly gave up a game-tying three-run home run earlier in the inning but the ball curved foul. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Dodgers catcher Will Smith slaps relief pitcher Phil Bickford on the chest after Smith made a catch on a pop-up hit by the Arizona Diamondbacks’ Corbin Carroll during the eighth inning on Thursday night in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
The Dodgers’ Mookie Betts, right, gets hit with a pitch as Arizona Diamondbacks catcher Gabriel Moreno, left, reaches for the ball during the ninth inning on Thursday night in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Dodgers relief pitcher Evan Phillips throws to the plate during the ninth inning of their game against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday night in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Dodgers relief pitcher Evan Phillips, right, celebrates with catcher Will Smith after the final out of their 5-2 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday night in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Dodgers outfielders David Peralta, left, James Outman, center, and Trayce Thompson celebrate their 5-2 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday night in Phoenix. (Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images)
Dodgers outfielders David Peralta, left, James Outman, center, and Trayce Thompson celebrate after the final out of their 5-2 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday night in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
The Dodgers warm up before their game against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday night in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Dodgers outfielder Trayce Thompson, right, stretches as he walks past teammate Miguel Rojas during batting practice before their game against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday night in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Dodgers starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw warms up before their game against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday night in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Dodgers outfielder David Peralta warms up before their game against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday in Phoenix. (Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images)
Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw gets ready to work out on the field before their game against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday in Phoenix. (Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images)
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts pauses on the field before their game against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday night in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Dodgers manager Dave Robert, left, shakes hands with outfielder David Peralta as outfielder Mookie Betts, middle, looks on before their game against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday night in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
PHOENIX — Since returning from Tommy John surgery, Dustin May has been haunted by a ghost – the specter of the pitcher he was starting to become in five 2021 starts before his elbow injury.
The specter has come to life in his first two starts this season. May dominated the Arizona Diamondbacks for the second time Thursday night, holding them to two hits over six innings in the Dodgers’ 5-2 win.
May went 12 innings into this season without allowing a run, holding the Diamondbacks scoreless on three hits over a career-high seven innings on the second day of the season and five more to start Thursday’s home opener for the Diamondbacks.
“Electric stuff,” Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman said of May. “I faced him pre-Tommy John. It’s not fun. You’ve got 100-mph sinkers and 95-mph cutters and when he can throw strikes like he is right now, that’s huge.
“The extension, it feels like he’s throwing the ball right in front of you. That makes the 100 play up even more. You’ve got to gear it up. Then he can throw the curveball off it and the cutter on lefties. It’s hard to get inside 96 when it’s boring in on you. He’s just got so many weapons for lefties and righties. That’s what makes him so good.”
All of those things are also the reason expectations have been so high for May before and after Tommy John surgery. Further removed from the 15-month rehab process, May seems to be coming into his own – again.
“This is as clean and consistent of a throw, delivery that he’s had, which is allowing for the ball to move late in the hitting zone,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “He’s been able to repeat it. So with that, he’s going to be efficient, because guys are gonna want to swing the bat early against him.”
The Diamondbacks had just one hit in the first five innings – a two-out single by Jake McCarthy in the second inning – and didn’t get a runner past first base until the sixth inning.
May walked the No. 9 hitter, Geraldo Perdomo, to start the sixth then left a 1-and-2 cutter to Josh Rojas over the heart of the plate. Rojas lined it to the wall in right field where it rattled around long enough for Perdomo to score from first base.
May put his foot down and retired the next three batters, finishing the night with five strikeouts and four baserunners (two hits and two walks).
“Not throwing balls. A lot,” May said of the most satisfying aspect of his first two starts. “Being more in the zone, being more competitive with a lot of stuff has been the biggest thing that I’ve noticed.
“Getting back to kind of the old, mechanics-wise, I think helped a lot, kind of smoothing everything out and getting the arm in a better spot.”
Meanwhile, the Dodgers’ offense has shed the on-again, off-again pattern of the first series with the Diamondbacks (18 runs combined in the first and third games, two in the second and fourth). Instead, they are establishing a different pattern – two-out runs.
Four of their five runs on Thursday scored after there were two outs in an inning. The fifth scored on a play that included the second out.
Chris Taylor’s two-out RBI single drove in the first run in the second inning after Max Muncy drew a leadoff walk. J.D. Martinez drove in another with a two-out double in the third. James Outman had an RBI single with two outs in the sixth and Freeman hit his first home run of the season with two outs in the seventh.
The Dodgers have scored 23 two-out runs in their first seven games this season.
“I was really happy to see CT shorten up and get a base hit. That was a big hit to get us on the board,” Roberts said. “And we’ve done that a lot. I think it’s just guys understanding the value now without the shift – and I don’t want to belabor it, but you know, moving the ball forward, you give yourself a chance. And we’ve done a really good job of that.”
Another early-season trend threatening to become a pattern is shaky closeouts by the bullpen. Alex Vesia gave up a one-out triple to McCarthy, a run-scoring wild pitch and a double to Gabriel Moreno. Yency Almonte replaced him and got out of the inning – but only after Josh Rojas just missed a three-run home run, the potential game-tying drive curving foul down the right field line.
In the first seven games, Dodgers relievers have given up seven of the 15 runs the team has allowed (in 22 innings).
“We’re still trying to find our footing,” Roberts said. “I know it’s not about a role thing or where guys are pitching. I think individually, you can look at them and each guy is sort of trying to figure some things out. But to their credit, they’re still being productive. And that’s most important right now.”
Roberts said he was told mid-game that Brusdar Graterol’s back had tightened up and he was unavailable. So he went with Phil Bickford to face the middle of the Diamondbacks’ order in the eighth, saving Evan Phillips for the ninth. Bickford allowed a leadoff double to Ketel Marte and moved him to third with a wild pitch before retiring the side, pumping 97-mph fastballs (the highest velocity he has registered in his career).
Phillips handled the ninth inning without drama for his second save of the season.
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