PHOENIX -- James Farmer's sixth-inning error in his team's 5-2 win over the D-backs on Thursday seemed to be an example of the Dodgers' luck -- or lack thereof -- lately. It could've loomed large had the game ended differently.
Paul Goldschmidt hit a ball hard that had topspin and took a hop right as Farmer approached it. The Chase Field roof was open, and the sun was in Farmer's eyes. Farmer even said that injured third baseman Justin Turner told him he attacked the ball correctly.
Minutes later, Goldschmidt became the go-ahead run. That is, until Farmer worked an eight-pitch at-bat two innings later that saw three runs scored during it.
"I think the thing is, we're trying to make our own breaks and be proactive," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.
Farmer's clutch at-bat came moments after Cody Bellinger's sacrifice fly tied the game. The bases were loaded.

Farmer knew D-backs left-hander Jorge De La Rosa loved his changeup, so he wanted to get something up in the zone. De La Rosa did some of the work for him, throwing two wild pitches. Each allowed a run to score.

"Luckily, they got far enough away that those runs could score," Farmer said.

And if those weren't enough, Farmer laced an RBI single to make it 5-2, a decisive blow that helped the Dodgers salvage a series split, ending Arizona's streak of consecutive series won at nine.
"That's what great teams do, is they take advantage of mistakes," Farmer said. "My error, they took advantage of that, then we were able to take advantage of their mistakes."

The Dodgers received a few lucky breaks in the eighth, including the wild pitches -- one of which bounced high and far away from home plate -- and a De La Rosa balk during Austin Barnes' at-bat right before Farmer stepped up. But they also created their own fortune. Chris Taylor walked to begin the eighth, and pinch-hitter Chase Utley and Matt Kemp singled to load the bases.

When all was said and done, the Dodgers had won another game. It marked the first time the D-backs had lost back-to-back contests all season. Given the circumstances, the Dodgers felt this was better than a typical series split.
"Being able to split, with what the last eight days have been like leading into yesterday, these are as big of two wins as you can have at the end of April and the beginning of May," said Alex Wood, who gave up an earned run in five innings on Thursday.

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Edward Paredes replaced Yimi Garcia in the sixth inning with one out. He proceeded to load the bases by hitting Daniel Descalso. It looked as if the Dodgers' bullpen was going to combust, but Paredes got Jeff Mathis to pop out and John Ryan Murphy to ground out.
HE SAID IT
"I think the last couple days was indicative of more of what we expected from our guys. I think that the confidence is starting to come together. Hopefully, they can continually to build on that."-- Roberts, on his bullpen, which pieced together Wednesday's game before keeping things close on Thursday
 MITEL REPLAY OF THE DAY
In the bottom of the eighth inning, A.J. Pollock hit a grounder to short. Taylor fielded it, but his throw was a bit high. Luckily, Bellinger jumped, caught the ball and tagged Pollock just in time. The D-backs challenged the call, but it stood for the first out of the inning.

UP NEXT
The Dodgers will head to Monterrey, Mexico, for a three-game series against the division-rival Padres. While the Dodgers played a pair of exhibition games in Monterrey in 1991, their only regular-season trip out of the United States and Canada came when they opened the 2014 season with a two-game set against the D-backs in Sydney, Australia. Walker Buehler, the Dodgers' No. 1 prospect per MLB Pipeline, will start opposite the Padres' Joey Lucchesi.