How Diamondbacks' Blaze Alexander's Dream Came True

Evidently, dreams do come true in Los Angeles.

The Arizona Diamondbacks were in the thick of a developing pitcher's duel in against Dodgers ace and former Cy Young winner Blake Snell in the fourth inning.

Of course, until Diamondbacks infielder Blaze Alexander crushed a two-run blast deep to left field.

Alexander watched it fly, as Arizona took a 2-0 lead — a lead they would never relinquish as their pitching staff went on to blank the potent Dodgers for a 3-0 win.

Alexander meant no disrespect in watching his big fly sail. Rather, he was relishing the moment.

Diamondbacks' Blaze Alexander's Dream Comes True at Dodger Stadium

"I didn't really mean to pimp it. It was kind of in the heat of the moment," Alexander told D-backs.TV's Todd Walsh postgame.

"No disrespect to Snell and the Dodgers... I dreamed of hitting a homer at Dodger Stadium in front of 40-plus thousand people. That was unbelievable."

"Dreams come true, don't they?" Walsh asked Alexander.

"They absolutely do," replied the affable young infielder.

The pitch was no meatball. It was a 93 MPH fastball near the lower inside corner of the zone. Alexander crushed it 107.5 MPH, 400 feet deep.

His manager was not surprised.

"He has the ability to do what he did tonight," Torey Lovullo said to Walsh. "He reverses a fastball and impacted the game with one swing of the bat. That's what he's capable of doing."

"He's a very dynamic player. He's learning and growing every single inning that he plays... that's what he's capable of doing. We're not surprised by that," Lovullo said.

Alexander is an important young piece of a Diamondbacks' roster that has had to grow up quickly since the fire sale Trade Deadline. As bleak as the playoff outlook may be, their faith in themselves has been demonstratively unwavering.

"That's the kind of team we are, man," Alexander said. "When we put it all together, in my opinion, we're one of the best teams in baseball. ... I'm real fortunate to be a part of it."

Arizona Diamondbacks Zac Gallen Mows Down Dodgers

Not to be lost in Alexander's dream-come-true, right-hander Zac Gallen had one of his best starts of the year.

Related Content: Diamondbacks' Zac Gallen Dominates Dodgers' Star-Studded Lineup

He threw six scoreless innings, allowing just two hits and one walk. He allowed only one runner to reach scoring position and struck out eight.

Alexander was in awe of the ace-like work Gallen delivered.

"Unbelievable. ... It was just paint, paint, paint," he said.

"That was one of the most fun games I got to play defense behind, an unbelievable job by Zac, and that's the kind of pitcher he is, the kind of player he is.

"I didn't get too much action at second. I was just sitting there watching him paint all day long... that's who he is. He's one of the best pitchers in the game."

Lovullo said that Gallen was "in one of those Zac moods" on Friday night.

"[He] went out there and just really executed a great game plan. Driving fastballs both sides of the plate. There's a couple batters that I think he finished off with a real aggressive mindset and a real aggressive fastball. It's a really clean game for him.

"I had a really low heart rate for most of this game today. It felt really good in this stadium against this team. There's there's never a guarantee and it switches real quick. Our pitchers did a great job today. They deserve a lot of this credit," Lovullo said.

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