Rookie Andy Pages has 3 RBIs to continue hot start as Dodgers beat Diamondbacks 8-4

PHOENIX (AP) — Teoscar Hernández and Andy Pages both hit two-run doubles in a big fifth inning, Will Smith added a solo homer and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 8-4 on Monday night.

Los Angeles finished the game without striking out once — the first time that has happened for the franchise since 2006.

“I just like the way that we're getting hits and not just going for slug,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “I always use the golf analogy: Our guys are using different clubs. You have to in baseball.”

Pages finished with three RBIs, the second time he had that many in 12 career games. The 23-year-old rookie pushed his hitting streak to seven games and is batting .298 with an .846 OPS since his big league debut on April 16.

“I'm playing against the best players in the world, but they make mistakes, too,” Pages said through a translator. “You try to do the best you can.”

Shohei Ohtani had two singles, a walk and an RBI for the Dodgers, who have won seven of their past eight.

The D-backs have dropped four of five.

The Dodgers led 2-1 in the fifth when Ohtani, Freddie Freeman and Smith all drew one-out walks Andrew Saalfrank. Hernández followed with a rocket into the right-center gap that bounced over the wall for a ground-rule double, scoring two runs.

Three batters later, Pages made it 6-1 with a hard-hit ball down the third base line off Scott McGough that scored Smith and Hernandez.

“Just trying to do the best I can,” Pages said. “Obviously, look for pitches I can handle, look for pitches in the zone."

It was the first time the D-backs and Dodgers played each other since Arizona swept a three-game National League Division Series against Los Angeles last season. The series win was part of the the D-backs’ surprising playoff run to the World Series.

Arizona cut the margin to 6-4 in the fifth. Eugenio Suárez had an RBI single, Randal Grichuk hit a sacrifice fly and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. came home on a wild pitch.

But Smith put the Dodgers up 7-4 in the sixth after clobbering a home run to dead center, high off the batter's eye above the wall.

“We didn’t throw the ball that well today and that was the difference in the game,” D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said.

Dodgers lefty James Paxton (3-0) gave up four runs and six hits over five innings. He struggled with his control, walking five and striking out four.

Los Angeles pulled ahead 2-1 in the second on Kiké Hernández's RBI double and Pages' sacrifice fly. Ohtani had the chance to do more damage — coming to the plate with the bases loaded and one out — but grounded into a double play.

Arizona left-hander Tommy Henry (1-2) gave up two runs and five hits and two walks over four innings.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Dodgers: RHP Ryan Brasier strained his right calf during pregame warmups Monday and will go on the injured list.

UP NEXT

The Diamondbacks send LHP Jordan Montgomery (1-1, 2.77 ERA) to the mound Tuesday night, while the Dodgers counter with RHP Landon Knack (1-1, 3.27 ERA).

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

Los Angeles Dodgers' Freddie Freeman throws his bat after hitting a fly out during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Monday, April 29, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani (17) high fives teammates after scoring on a ground rule double hit by Teoscar Hernández during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Monday, April 29, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Arizona Diamondbacks third base Eugenio Suárez connects for an RBI base hit during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Monday, April 29, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani flips his bat during his at-bat during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Monday, April 29, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Arizona Diamondbacks' Randal Grichuk runs on his base hit against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the fourth inning of a baseball game, Monday, April 29, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Los Angeles Dodgers' Mookie Betts (50) helps Arizona Diamondbacks' Christian Walker up after Walker was forced out on a double play hit by Eugenio Suárez during the third inning of a baseball game, Monday, April 29, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher James Paxton throws against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the first inning of a baseball game, Monday, April 29, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Los Angeles Dodgers' Max Muncy (13) scores on a sacrifice fly hit by Andy Pages during the second inning of a baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Monday, April 29, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Los Angeles Dodgers' Mookie Betts (50) forces out Arizona Diamondbacks' Christian Walker as he turns a double play on Eugenio Suárez during the third inning of a baseball game, Monday, April 29, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Matt York)

PHOENIX (AP) — Attorney John Eastman pleaded not guilty on Friday to conspiracy, fraud and forgery charges for his role in the effort to overturn Donald Trump’s loss in Arizona to Joe Biden in the 2020 election.

Eastman, who devised a strategy to try to persuade Congress not to certify the election, is the first person charged in Arizona’s fake elector case to be arraigned.

Arraignments are scheduled May 21 for 12 other people charged in the case, including nine of the 11 Republicans who had submitted a document to Congress falsely declaring Trump had won Arizona.

The Arizona indictment said Eastman encouraged the GOP electors to cast their votes in December 2020, unsuccessfully pressured state lawmakers to change the election’s outcome in Arizona and told then-Vice President Mike Pence that he could reject Democratic electors in the counting of electoral votes in Congress on Jan. 6, 2021.

Trump himself was not charged in the Arizona case but was referred to as an unindicted co-conspirator.

Charges have not yet been made public against Rudy Giuliani, the former New York mayor and Trump-aligned attorney, but he was readily identifiable based on descriptions of the defendants in the indictment. No arraignment date has been scheduled for Giuliani. Arizona authorities say they have been unable to serve Giuliani with the notice of the charges.

Former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows is scheduled to be arraigned on June 7.

Last year, Eastman was indicted on racketeering, conspiracy and other charges in a scheme to overturn the 2020 president election in Georgia. He has pleaded not guilty to the Georgia charges. Eastman also is named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the sprawling federal indictment filed in Washington against Trump for working to overturn the results of the 2020 election in the run-up to the violent riot by his supporters at the U.S. Capitol.

Arizona is the fourth state where allies of the former president have been charged with using false or unproven claims about voter fraud related to the election.

The 11 people who had been nominated to be Arizona’s Republican electors met in Phoenix on Dec. 14, 2020, to sign a certificate saying they were “duly elected and qualified” electors and claiming that Trump carried the state. A one-minute video of the signing ceremony was posted on social media by the Arizona Republican Party at the time. The document was later sent to Congress and the National Archives, where it was ignored.

Biden won Arizona by more than 10,000 votes.

Of the eight lawsuits that unsuccessfully challenged Biden’s victory in the state, one was filed by the 11 fake Arizona electors, who had asked a federal judge to de-certify the results and block the state of Arizona from sending results to the Electoral College. In dismissing the case, the judge concluded the Republicans had “failed to provide the court with factual support for their extraordinary claims.” Days after that lawsuit was dismissed, the 11 participated in the certificate signing.

Multiple in-person attempts were made to serve Giuliani with the notice but a doorman at his New York City apartment wouldn’t accept it, said Richie Taylor, a spokesperson for Democratic Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, whose office is prosecuting the case. Taylor said efforts by the attorney general’s office to reach Giuliani by phone also were unsuccessful.

FILE - Attorney John Eastman, the architect of a legal strategy aimed at keeping former President Donald Trump in power, talks to reporters after a hearing in Los Angeles, June 20, 2023. Eastman pleaded not guilty on Friday, May 17, 2024, to conspiracy, fraud and forgery charges for his role in the effort to overturn Donald Trump’s loss in Arizona to Joe Biden in the 2020 election. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)