In its first action in Houston since game five of the 2017 World Series, the Dodgers scored five runs in the fifth inning and benches cleared as it defeated the Houston Astros 5-2 on Monday night at Minute Maid Park.
The Dodgers (3-2) batted around in the fifth inning, chalking up five runs on five singles and a walk. Corey Seager jump-started the inning with a single to left field and grounded into a double play to end the inning. However, the damage followed Seager’s single with back to back singles from A.J. Pollock and Kike Hernandez before Mookie Betts’ RBI walk gave Los Angeles it’s first run.
Right before Betts walked, Enoli Paredes relieved Framber Valdez, who started for the Astros and pitched well up until the fifth inning where he got in trouble.
“Mookie Betts is a dangerous man,” Astros manager Dusty Baker said. “They were hitting some balls hard. I couldn’t let the dangerous Mookie Betts hit the ball out the ballpark; then, we would have been playing catchup.
“I felt good and felt like I could have gone longer,” Astros pitcher Framber Valdez who pitched four and a 1/3 innings. “I had a lot left in me.”
That was the beginning of what followed.
Benches clear as heated action ignited by Dodgers pitcher Joe Kelly.
Kelly struggled with his command in the sixth inning, beaming Bregman and nearly hitting Carlos Correa and Yuli Gurriel. However, things heated to another level as Kelly struck out Correa, “saying that a boy, nice swing.” Both benches cleared, but the two teams exchanged as the umpire quickly got things under control.
“It was a ball, obviously,” says Dodgers pitcher Joe Kelly. “It was ball four. I walked him. The inside fastball wasn’t my best pitch. I wasn’t feeling the greatest.”
“The ball gets away sometimes but not that many times in the big leagues,” said Astros manager Dusty Baker. “I didn’t anticipate Kelly throwing over a player’s head three balls in a row.”
Max Muncy’s grounder to Bregman allowed the Astros (3-2) to record the second out of the inning. But catcher Martin Maldonado could not handle the toss from Bregman. That allowed the Dodgers to tie the game at two.
Los Angeles continued to pound the inexperienced Astros pitching staff. Cody Bellinger and Justin Turner followed back-to-back run-scoring singles to increase the Dodgers lead, 4-2.
That also ended Paredes evening with the bases loaded. Andre Scrubb, who was added to Houston’s roster today, entered and yielded an RBI walk to Chris Taylor before inducing Seager to hit into an inning-ending double play as Los Angeles led 5-2.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts’s strategy paid off, sending five pitchers to the mound over the final five innings. Brusdar Graterol, the most impressive, threw pitches of 100 miles an hour, frustrating Astro batters by striking out Kyle Tucker and Maldonado before George Springer grounded out to close the bottom of the fifth.
Scrubbs, out of the Dodgers organization, showed promise, pitching two and 2/3 inning. He gave up one run, three walks and recorded two strikeouts.
Nivaldo Rodriguez pitched the final two innings for Houston. He gave up three hits, a walk and struck out one in his first action since September 12, 2019, in Class A. The strikeout marks his first major league strikeout, coming at the hands of last year’s top national league player in Bellinger.
Dodgers starting left-hander Walker Buehler faired well but surrendered two RBIs to Carlos Correa. The first watched Correa rocket a home run to the left-field seats in the second inning, and his single scored Brantley in the fourth. Houston led 2-0.
Astros will look to bounce back in the series final on Tuesday when right-hander Cristian Javier takes the mound against Dodgers Dustin May at 6:10 PM.
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