Christian Walker Powers D-Backs Past Dodgers In Extra Innings

As the Los Angeles Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks were set to take the field for the middle game of their series, they were joined by a swarm of bees on the netting of the backstop.

The bee colony led to a delay just shy of two hours before the game could get underway, which began after a local beekeeper cleared the area while receiving cheers from fans.

That was the start of a somewhat weird game all-around, which saw the two teams go into extra innings before Christian Walker hit his second home run of the game to win it for Arizona with a 4-3 victory.

Jordan Montgomery was supposed to start for the Diamondbacks, but they instead decided to utilize a bullpen game following the delay. The Dodgers were held off the board for the first five innings by the D-Backs’ pitchers.

But in the fifth inning, the Dodgers started to rally with Max Muncy working a leadoff walk and Andy Pages following with a single. Another walk, this time by Mookie Betts, loaded the bases for Shohei Ohtani with the Dodgers trailing by one run.

The Dodgers ended up tying the game on a wild pitch from Joe Mantiply, who entered the game to face Ohtani. That was all the Dodgers were able to score in the inning as Ohtani struck out and Freddie Freeman lined out.

In the sixth inning, Will Smith led off with a double, and that was followed by a single from Kiké Hernández to put runners at the corners. With Mantiply still pitching, he ended up balking in the go-ahead run, while Max Muncy struck out and Pages grounded out.

The Dodgers bullpen, which has shined during the road trip, gave up the lead in the eighth when Daniel Hudson allowed a double to Joc Pederson and a single to Gabriel Moreno, tying the game at 2-2 before it went onto extras.

Will Smith gave the Dodgers the lead in the 10th with a sacrifice fly, but they ended up leaving two more runners on base.

Landon Knack impressive for Dodgers

On the mound, Landon Knack turned in another fantastic start, especially considering the circumstances. After warming up for the regular start time, he pitched following the delay, giving the Dodgers five innings of one-run ball.

The only run he allowed came via a solo home run from Christian Walker in the fourth inning.

Knack went back out for the sixth, but allowed a leadoff single before being taken out of the game. He was replaced by Michael Grove, who ran into some trouble, but worked out of it to keep the lead intact.