Christian Walker extends home run tear at Dodger Stadium, helps Diamondbacks beat Dodgers 9-3

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Christian Walker extended his tear at Dodger Stadium on Thursday night, homering in his first two at-bats for his 18th and 19th home runs in 42 career games at the ballpark, and the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 9-3.

“Just a crazy thing,” Walker said. “Speechless for sure.”

The NL West-leading Dodgers fell to 4-5 against the D-backs this season, and won't see them again in Los Angeles until possibly the postseason. Arizona stunned the Dodgers in the first round last year.

Joc Pederson drew boos from the sellout crowd of 52,320 when he went deep against his old team in the first, just before Walker blasted a 435-foot shot to center field off rookie Landon Knack (1-2) with two outs.

“When you get booed it means you’re probably doing something good that they don’t like,” Pederson said.

Walker had two strikes in the third when he hammered a two-run shot to left with two outs, extending Arizona's lead to 4-0. The 33-year-old slugger has homered in five consecutive games at the stadium and gone deep nine times this season against Dodgers pitching.

“I’m proud of it, it’s a super cool thing,” he said. “It’s like a once-in-a-lifetime situation. Wouldn’t be able to do it without teammates and the hitting guys for sure.”

Walker is from the same Norristown, Pennsylvania, hometown as late Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda. He was drafted in the 49th round by the Dodgers in 2009, but didn’t sign and instead played for the University of South Carolina, where he helped the Gamecocks win the College World Series in 2010 and 2011.

Walker drew his first intentional walk of the series with two outs in the fifth. He was retired on a broken-bat groundout in the seventh. He drew a four-pitch walk to load the bases in the ninth with two outs.

“When they walked him, it was like, finally,” D-backs starter Zac Gallen said. “He's unconscious.”

Justin Martinez (3-0) got the win with three innings of relief.

The D-backs scored 14 consecutive runs between the third inning of their 12-4 victory Wednesday — the Dodgers’ biggest loss of the season — and third inning Thursday.

“I feel like we just haven't been pitching very well, honestly,” Dodgers catcher Austin Barnes said. “It's hard to win games when we have no momentum, are behind in the game a lot. We're not doing things very well on the defensive side of the ball.”

The Dodgers cut the deficit to 4-3 in the fourth on Kiké Hernández's bases-loaded RBI groundout and Barnes' two-run single.

Dodgers stars Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman struck out three times each as the team's NL West lead dropped to 6 1/2 games over San Diego after dropping two of three to Arizona.

The D-backs tacked on four more runs in the with two outs in the ninth. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. had a two-run single and Gabriel Moreno followed with a two-run double, both on broken-bat hits that made it 7-3.

Arizona third baseman Eugenio Suárez was ejected in the middle of the eighth. He went 0 for 4, with called third strikes in the fourth and eighth innings. The second time he yelled and swung his bat while staring at home plate umpire Stu Scheurwater, who tossed him. Suárez had to be led off the field by bench coach Jeff Banister.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Dodgers: RF Jason Heyward left the game with left knee pain in the top of the third after a leaping attempt on Pederson's homer in the first. He'll have an MRI on Friday. ... LHP Clayton Kershaw (shoulder) threw a 30-pitch bullpen session. Next up is a simulated game possibly this weekend. ... 3B Max Muncy (oblique) is still sore and isn't expected back until well after the All-Star break. “It's been a lot slower process than we hoped,” manager Dave Roberts said. “The longer he's out, the harder it is.”

UP NEXT

Diamondbacks: RHP Slade Cecconi (2-6, 5.81 ERA) starts Friday at San Diego in the opener of a three-game series.

Dodgers: RHP Tyler Glasnow (8-5, 3.23) starts Friday against visiting Milwaukee in a matchup of division leaders.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Arizona Diamondbacks' Corbin Carroll, right, runs home past Los Angeles Dodgers relief pitcher Anthony Banda to score off a single hit by Ketel Marte during the fifth inning of a baseball game, Thursday, July 4, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

Arizona Diamondbacks' Christian Walker, right, celebrates after his two-run home run with designated hitter Joc Pederson, left, who also scored, during the third inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Thursday, July 4, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

Arizona Diamondbacks' Christian Walker, left, watches his solo home run during the first inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Thursday, July 4, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Zac Gallen throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Thursday, July 4, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Landon Knack reacts while walking off the mound during the first inning of a baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Thursday, July 4, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

Arizona Diamondbacks designated hitter Joc Pederson celebrates after his solo home run during the first inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Thursday, July 4, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

Los Angeles Dodgers right fielder Jason Heyward (23) is unable to catch a solo home run hit by Arizona Diamondbacks designated hitter Joc Pederson as shortstop Kiké Hernandez, foreground, watches during the first inning of a baseball game, Thursday, July 4, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

Arizona Diamondbacks' Christian Walker celebrates after his two-run home run during the third inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Thursday, July 4, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are edging higher in morning trading on Wall Street Monday, adding to the record highs they set last week.

The S&P 500 rose 0.1%. The Nasdaq rose 0.1% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 161 points, or 0.4% as of 10:40 a.m. Eastern.

Specialty glassware maker Corning surged 9.3% for one of the biggest gains in the market after raising its sales forecast.

Troubled airplane maker Boeing rose 3.1% after agreeing to plead guilty to a criminal fraud charge stemming from two crashes of 737 Max jetliners that killed 346 people. The government determined the company violated an agreement that had protected it from prosecution for more than three years.

Entertainment giant Paramount Global fell 4.1% after it agreed to merge with Skydance.

Traders are looking ahead to several earnings reports this week including updates from Delta Air Lines on Thursday.

JPMorgan, Citigroup and Wells Fargo will report results on Friday. The latest updates for banks could give Wall Street a clearer picture on how consumers are handling increased debt and whether banks are worried about payments and potential delinquencies.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell addresses Congress on Tuesday and Wednesday. The central bank has kept its benchmark interest rate at its highest level in more than two decades in an effort to tame inflation.

The Fed's goal is to cool inflation back to 2% without slowing economic growth too much. Inflation is still squeezing consumers, but it has fallen significantly from its peak two years ago. Economic growth has slowed this year, but it remains relatively strong amid a solid jobs market and consumer spending.

The central bank will get more updates on inflation at the consumer level on Thursday. Wall Street expects the latest government report to show inflation easing to 3.1% in June from 3.3% in May.

A report for inflation at the wholesale level, before costs are passed on to consumers, is expected Friday.

Surprisingly stubborn inflation has prompted the Fed to wait cautiously before cutting rates and dampened expectations for the number of anticipated rate cuts this year. Most experts are expecting one rate cut from the Fed this year, but not until September. The Fed holds its next policy meeting later this month.

Treasury yields were relatively stable in the bond market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.29% from 4.28% late Friday.

European stocks were mixed after France’s elections left its legislature divided among left, center and far right, with no single political faction getting close to a majority.

Stocks in Asia fell.

AP Business Writers Zimo Zhong and Matt Ott contributed to this report.

FILE - The New York Stock Exchange is seen on July 3, 2024, in New York. Asian stocks have fallen while European markets are higher on Monday, July 8, 2024, after France's elections left its legislature divided among left, center and far right, with no single political faction getting close to a majority. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan, File)

People stand in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm under the intense sun Monday, July 8, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

People are reflected on the window of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm Monday, July 8, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

A person walks in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm under the intense sun Monday, July 8, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

People stand in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm under the intense sun Monday, July 8, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

FILE - A person walks past at an electronic stock board showing financial indexes including Japan's Nikkei 225 index, green, at a securities firm in Tokyo, June 27, 2024. Asian shares were mostly lower on Friday, July 5, after solid gains in Europe overnight, while U.S. markets were closed for the July 4th holiday. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama, File)

FILE - The New York Stock Exchange is seen on Wednesday, July 3, 2024, in New York. Shares advanced Friday, July 5, 2024, in Europe after Britain's Labour Party prevailed over the Conservatives in this week's national election. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan, File)