It was the Dodgers‘ turn to come out on the winning end of a pitchers’ duel between Corbin Burnes and Dustin May, and that’s what happened, as Los Angeles beat the Diamondbacks 3-1 thanks to Teoscar Hernández.
It was evident early that Burnes and May were ready to repeat their recent dominant performances in this same duel, which occurred in Arizona 11 days earlier.
Both pitchers dominated and allowed all of their runs in a single homer, but the difference was that the Diamondbacks‘ shot was a solo one, while Hernández took Burnes deep for a three-run bomb in the sixth inning.
Watch it fly. pic.twitter.com/e8Fqo1ggpk
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) May 22, 2025
Increasing the tension of that moment, Burnes was one out away from six scoreless frames, dominating the Dodgers up to that point, making what was then a 1-0 lead for Arizona look far bigger than it actually was.
After a few outings going exclusively sinker-sweeper, May brought back the first approach he had in 2025, which included timely four-seamers and cutters, tying his whole arsenal together. In the first inning, he used a four-seamer up and in to punch out Gabriel Moreno and close the frame. We’ll wait to determine if this was just an adjustment from having seen the Diamondbacks rather recently, or if we’ll see those pitches regularly once again. The four-seamers and cutters worked well in general, inducing a little over a handful of whiffs (six on 12 swings).
If the production level has anything to say, May will most definitely be repeating this approach. The young right-hander followed in the footsteps of Yoshinobu Yamamoto and delivered six innings of one-run ball with eight strikeouts to shut down one of the better offenses in the National League.
The sole damage done against May in this outing came as a mistake pitch that met the right hitter at the plate. Down 2-0 in the count against Ketel Marte, very likely the best hitting second baseman in the sport, May threw a sinker in the sweet spot of most lefties, down and in, leaking over the plate a decent chunk. Marte was waiting for it and hit it 425 feet out to right field. Plenty has been said about Gabriel Moreno turning into a different hitter against the Dodgers, but Marte has also done tremendous damage against this team. This was the fourth homer from Marte against the Dodgers this season. Other than that, though, May cruised and only twice had to face a hitter with a runner in scoring position, both times stranding that runner.
Dodger pitching would get the last laugh on Marte with the second baseman coming up as the go-ahead run with two outs in the seventh after Jack Dreyer allowed a couple of softly hit singles. In only his second appearance with the Dodgers, Lou Trivino came to the front line of high-leverage righty relievers, was put in a crucial spot, and got the job done with Marte grounding out to second.
Game particulars
Home runs: Teoscar Hernández (10), Ketel Marte (7)
WP — Dustin May (2-4): 6 IP, 5 hits, 1 run, 1 walk, 8 strikeouts
LP — Corbin Burnes (3-2): 7 IP, 4 hits, 3 runs, 1 walk, 8 strikeouts
Sv — Tanner Scott (10): 1 IP, 2 strikeouts
Up next
The Dodgers hit the road and travel to New York, with the Mets waiting for them at Citi Field. Friday’s series opener (4:10 p.m. PT, Apple TV+) will feature Clayton Kershaw making his first road start of the year, with Griffin Canning starting for the Mets.
