LOS ANGELES -- The D-backs did lose, 9-5, to Clayton Kershaw in Game 1 of the National League Division Series presented by T-Mobile on Friday night, but they didn't let the Dodgers' ace escape unscathed.
A.J. Pollock, J.D. Martinez, Ketel Marte and Jeff Mathis all hit solo shots off Kershaw. It was just the second time in Kershaw has given up four homers in a game.
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"He's an elite pitcher," D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said. "I think we had a good game plan. We have a lot of positives that we're going to focus on. And I know that our group of guys right now are feeling OK about their approach off him and the results are there. You score some runs off of him the way we did, it helps build a little confidence."
Pollock struck the first blow in the third, while Martinez hit one in the sixth.
Then with Kershaw tiring in the seventh, Marte and Mathis went back-to-back with one out.
"You've got to pull the positives out of a game like this, for sure, and that's one thing that sticks out in my mind," Mathis said. "The fact that we came back and made a ballgame of it. They know that over there."
The knowledge that they can hit Kershaw could come in handy for the D-backs. After all, if this series goes to a decisive Game 5, Kershaw will be on the mound for L.A.