Rodriguez gives up back-to-back homers in first, then shuts down Dodgers

LOS ANGELES – Eduardo Rodriguez has pitched well against the Dodgers all season.

Now, he finally has a win to show for it.

Rodriguez pitched six sharp innings with two runs allowed to lead the Diamondbacks to a 9-3 win over the Dodgers on Friday night at Dodger Stadium in the opener of their three-game series. Rodriguez allowed back-to-back home runs to Shohei Ohtani and Andy Pages to open his night, and then held the Dodgers scoreless the rest of the way.

“After those two solo home runs, he got super super stubborn, started to attack the zone and mix pitches, and did a really nice job,” D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said. “It's just so E-Rod. He's able to just shed it and just go back to work.”

The 2026 All-Star allowed seven hits, walked one and struck out five to finish the first half 8-3 with a 2.29 ERA. After surrendering the back-to-back homers, he only allowed one baserunner past second base.

“I took the emotion out of it,” Rodríguez said. “I was throwing the pitches right where I wanted, and I'm gonna keep doing the rest of the game.”

Rodriguez pitched five innings with one run (unearned) allowed against the Dodgers on March 28 and threw six innings with one run allowed against them on June 1. Both times, he got stuck with a no-decision.

This time, the D-backs’ offense finally gave him the run support he needed. Tim Tawa went 3-for-4 with a homer and four RBIs, Gabriel Moreno went 2-for-5 with a double and two RBIs, while extending his on-base streak to 30 consecutive starts and the D-backs took advantage of three throwing errors, two wild pitches and a balk by an uncharacteristically sloppy Dodgers defense.

Facing a bullpen game after Ohtani was scratched from his mound start due to left knee irritation, Arizona scored two runs in the first, fourth, fifth and sixth innings, giving Rodriguez a comfortable 8-2 lead by the time he departed and ensuring he would finally pick up his first win of the season against the two-time defending champions.

“It was a good moment for him,” Lovullo said. “...There's a couple that we've left out there for him. So the way the boys went out there and tacked on those runs, I'm sure it was very meaningful for him.”

The only negative of the night for the D-backs came in the sixth inning. Ryan Waldschmidt, the D-backs' No. 1 prospect, left the game after being hit in the hand by a 100 mph sinker from Edgardo Henriquez while squaring around to bunt.

Postgame X-rays came back negative, and he is day to day with a right thumb contusion.

“Honestly, I feel pretty good,” Waldschmidt said. “I'm hoping tomorrow morning I'll get some more good news, and then hopefully swelling will be down and [I’ll] be back in there as soon as possible.”

Rodríguez’s night got off to an inauspicious start. After the D-backs staked him to a 2-0 lead in the first inning, he gave it back in only 10 pitches. Ohtani sent an inside fastball a Statcast-projected 381 feet over the wall in left to halve the Dodgers’ deficit. Pages followed by taking a changeup and blasting it a projected 419 feet into the left-field bleachers.

But rather than let it rattle him, the veteran left-hander settled in. Rodríguez struck out Freddie Freeman immediately after the homers and finished the inning by striking out Kyle Tucker. He got a measure of revenge against Ohtani in the third, striking him out swinging through an elevated fastball. Rodriguez cruised the middle innings and ended his night by striking out Tucker looking and getting Teoscar Hernàndez to fly out harmlessly to left to finish his outing.

Rodríguez scattered five hits over six innings following the homers, while keeping the Dodgers off the board the rest of the way.

“To give up two runs in the first and be able to go six [innings] is something that I really, really appreciate,” Rodriguez said.

Lovullo opted to pull Rodríguez after six innings and 87 pitches. With Rodriguez’s first All-Star appearance set for Tuesday, Lovullo wanted to make sure he was plenty rested in order to pitch in the Midsummer Classic.

“I want to be mindful of him pitching his first All-Star Game,” Lovullo said. “Running him out there for 100-plus pitches and not getting a full cycle of rest didn't make a lot of sense to me. So he did his job, and that's why I explained to him. You did your job, and we got it from here.”