PHOENIX — Arizona signed Evan Longoria during the offseason, hoping the three-time All-Star could provide some leadership for a young roster working to rise in the NL West.
It also helps that the 37-year-old infielder is still a pretty good baseball player.
Longoria and rookie Corbin Carroll hit back-to-back homers in the sixth inning off Clayton Kershaw, lifting the Diamondbacks over the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-3 on Friday night.
“I want to produce on the field, first and foremost,” Longoria said. “When I came here, there was a lot of talk about being a mentor, but I’m still putting on a uniform to go out and play the game. I don’t just want to go 0 for 4 and be the guy who guys are asking questions like, ’How was it 15 years ago?”
Kershaw took a 3-2 lead into the sixth but Longoria launched a low breaking ball into the seats in left-center. Carroll then turned on an inside fastball, giving Arizona a 4-3 lead with a drive over Chase Field’s pool in right-center.
Longoria reached four times, adding a double, single and a walk. The Diamondbacks opened a 6-3 lead in the eighth on two-out RBI hits from Nick Ahmed and rookie catcher Gabriel Moreno.
PHOTOS: Longoria, Carroll hit back-to-back HRs, D-backs top Dodgers
“Today was the type of game I’ve been waiting for,” D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said. “These guys have been working their tails off offensively and you could see we had a great approach, all-field approach, with timely hitting. It was a lot of fun.”
Drey Jameson (2-0), Miguel Castro and Andrew Chafin combined to pitch 4 1/3 innings of hitless relief.
James Outman and Chris Taylor homered for the Dodgers. Kershaw (1-1) gave up four runs and seven hits over six innings.
“A little bit of an off night,” Kershaw said. “I did a lot of things I shouldn’t have, especially when your team grinds and gives you the lead like that. It’s disappointing to give up the lead late in the game. Just a lot of things to work on for the next one.”
The Dodgers had won three in a row.
Diamondbacks lefty Madison Bumgarner had another shaky evening, giving up three runs and five hits over 4 2/3 innings. He struck out five and walked six. Bumgarner also got hit hard in his season-opening start against the Dodgers in L.A. last week and went back to Phoenix early to check for a potential injury.
The good news is there was no injury. The bad news is he’s still struggling to get outs.
“Not my best,” Bumgarner said. “But we won … that’s all that matters. If that’s what it takes to win, sign me up.”
Bumgarner gave up a single and two walks to load the bases with two outs in the fifth but Jameson retired Chris Taylor on a groundout.
400 CLUB
Kershaw made his 400th career start. He’s the 139th pitcher in big league history to hit that mark, according to baseball-reference.com.
“That’s a big number, given the rare company he’s in,” manager Dave Roberts said. “I think with greatness - longevity - that’s something he prides himself on. Not only being good in a small snippet of time, but for 400 starts, that’s pretty remarkable.”
Kansas City’s Zack Greinke is the active leader with 516 starts, which ranks 44th.
Kershaw - a three-time NL Cy Young Award winner - has a 198-87 career record and a 2.48 ERA.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Dodgers: Roberts said RHP Tony Gonsolin (ankle) threw a 32-pitch bullpen. Roberts added that he watched and that “today was pretty encouraging.” He said the team was still determining the next step in his rehab.
Diamondbacks: Placed RHP Cole Sulser (strained right shoulder) on the injured list. RHP Luis Frias was called up from Triple-A.
UP NEXT
The Dodgers send RHP Noah Syndergaard (0-0, 1.50 ERA) to the mound on Saturday night. He’ll go against D-backs RHP Zach Davies (0-0, 1.80 ERA).
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