Dodgers give up two homers to Christian Walker, again, and drop the series to Arizona

O Dodger the shelter was sitting in silent despondency.

Two rows behind him, a Dodgers fan stood up and began bowing his arms.

Surrounding the bases before them was the club’s new enemy No. 1, a decent MLB slugger who, during trips to Dodger Stadium in recent years, suddenly acts like a cross between Barry Bonds and Babe Ruth.

Again, Christian Walker He had the Dodgers’ number.

For the second night in a row he hit two home runs to lead the Arizona Diamondbacks to a 9-3rubber match victory at Chavez Ravine.

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Entering this week, Walker already had a reputation as a Dodgers killer. In 87 previous games against the club, he hit 22 home runs and collected 50 RBIs. His numbers against franchise icon Clayton Kershaw were especially good, with a .294 career batting average from the future Hall of Famer.

“I had some ideas,” Kershaw, who remains sidelined after offseason shoulder surgery, told reporters Thursday afternoon about how the team could neutralize Walker later in the series. “For our boys, not for you.”

Whatever Kershaw was thinking, it apparently didn’t work.

Instead, after hitting a home run in Tuesday’s series opener, and two more in Arizona’s rout of the Dodgers on Wednesday night, Walker continued his weeklong tear with another two-homer outburst. on Thursday, etching his name into Dodger Stadium’s recent history in the process.

Since 2002, Walker’s 19 home runs at the ballpark are tied for the most by any visiting player, tying former Diamondbacks star Paul Goldschmidt. Among visiting players with at least 100 games at the ballpark in that span, Walker’s .783 hitting percentage is first, while his .341 batting average is second.

Walker’s two home runs on Thursday came off Dodgers rookie starter Landon Knack.

In the first inning, he followed a Joc Pederson home run with a solo blast of his own. In the third inning, Walker launched a two-run shot to left field, helping Arizona take a 4-0 lead.

The most telling moment of Walker’s dominance of the Dodgers, however, may have come in the top of the fifth. With a runner on second, two outs and left-handed reliever Anthony Banda on the mound, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts held up four fingers from the dugout.

An intentional walk.

For a hitter who, in ballparks other than Dodger Stadium this year, was batting .257 with a .788 OPS.

Although Walker managed just one more walk the rest of the night (he finished two-for-three on Thursday and eight-for-13 in the series with five home runs and nine RBIs), his contributions were enough to secure the Diamondbacks’ series-deciding victory. .

The Dodgers scored three runs in the fourth inning on an RBI groundout by Kiké Hernández and a run single by Austin Barnes.

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But after a Freddie Freeman miss in the fifth helped the Diamondbacks restore their multi-run lead, Arizona’s bullpen closed the door over the final five innings while its lineup put up four insurance runs in the top of the ninth.

The biggest concern for the Dodgers on Thursday was outfielder Jason Heyward, who left the game after two innings because of left knee soreness.

Heyward had just one hit on Thursday, striking out in the first, but also appeared shaken after leaping for Pederson’s home run off the right wall.

The veteran had been slumping as of late, entering Thursday just three-for-34 in his last 11 games.

But he remained a key part of their outfield platoon, playing most days in right field given the Dodgers’ heavy dose of opposing right-handed pitchers.

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This story originally appeared on Los Angeles Times.