D-backs confident they will leave LA with split

Lovullo, players put opening loss behind them, turn page to Game 2

October 7th, 2017

LOS ANGELES -- All year long, the D-backs have been able to rebound quickly from tough losses.
Turning the page is what they call it.
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That's what the D-backs will need to do after dropping Game 1 of the National League Division Series presented by T-Mobile, 9-5, to the Dodgers on Friday night at Dodger Stadium.
And with this being a best-of-five series, they'll have to turn the page quickly because there are not a lot of pages with which to work.
"We have been very resilient," Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said. "We've had some tough losses and you know this is playoff baseball. We know that we're built for moments like this. We've been battle-tested all year long. It was a tough day for us. I know this team is going to regroup and be ready for a tough game [Saturday]."
An example of a bounce back from the D-backs came Aug. 20 when the Twins rolled, 12-5, to complete a three-game sweep in which Arizona was outscored, 27-8.
Rather than signaling the beginning of the end of their postseason hopes, the D-back won 16 of their next 17 games, including 13 in a row, to take command of the NL Wild Card race.

"Experiencing things like that obviously helps in situations and times like this," D-backs catcher Jeff Mathis said. "Put it behind us. [Saturday] is a new day. We'll come out and get after it."
Said outfielder , "It would have been great if we had won the first game, but we've got [Saturday] and we're going to fight [Saturday] and we're going to find a way to win. So we're going to get some rest and be ready [Saturday]."
While the Dodgers jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first and 7-1 through four, the D-backs continued to try to claw their way back into it as they hit four solo homers off Dodgers ace .
"He's a tough competitor and we know who we were facing," Peralta said. "The homers were not enough, but we showed we were going to battle. We never gave up. We were fighting each inning. It didn't work, but it will work [Saturday]."
The D-backs have reason to be optimistic with Robbie Ray starting Game 2. Ray has owned the Dodgers this year, going 3-0 with a 2.27 ERA in five starts.
Then for Game 3, the D-backs will be returning home, where their offense thrives and they'll have ace Zack Greinke on the mound at Chase Field, where he was 13-1 with a 2.87 ERA in 18 regular-season starts this season.
"We're a team that keeps grinding," said , who saved the bullpen by pitching five innings in relief of starter . "We keep going and it speaks [volumes] to us as a team. No matter what happened the night before, we come back out ready to go again the next day and we'll come back out ready to go again [Saturday]."