Winners in their last nine home games and 14 of the last 19 games overall, the Los Angeles Dodgers welcomed the Baltimore Orioles to Dodger Stadium for the first time since 2004. The Fourth of July matchup featured Mexican natives Julio Urias and Yovani Gallardo on the mound.
Urias was extremely efficient in the first inning, needing just 10 pitches to retire the side in order. Gallardo gave up a leadoff single to Chase Utley in the bottom of the first, and later walked Adrian Gonzalez to put two on with two outs.
Gallardo escaped the small jam by catching Trayce Thompson looking for the third out. Mark Trumbo led off the second inning with a base hit and Chris Davis followed with a walk.
J.J. Hardy worked a 10-pitch at-bat that ended on a two-run double that gave the Orioles an early lead. After Gallardo drew a two-out walk, Adam Jones added to the lead with an RBI single.
Urias ended the 37-pitch inning, which saw him get squeezed at times by home plate umpire Mark Carlson, with a strikeout. Yasiel Puig and Yasmani Grandal hit back-to-back solo home runs with no outs in the bottom of the second to get the Dodgers within a run.
It was the first time this season Dodgers players combined for back-to-back homers. What’s more, Los Angeles was the last team in the Majors to accomplish the feat. Urias bounced back nicely in the third, retiring the Orioles in order and picking up two more strikeouts in the process.
Gallardo struck out Corey Seager and Justin Turner before walking Gonzalez a second time on the night. Thompson then grounded out and the Dodgers trailed, 3-2, after three innings. Matt Wieters singled and Hardy doubled to put two on with no outs in the fourth.
Joey Rickard added to the string of hits with a two-run single, and he was then moved into scoring position on Gallardo’s sacrifice bunt. That marked the end of the road for Urias, who gave way to Louis Coleman.
The right-handed reliever retired Jones and Jonathan Schoop to get the Dodgers out of the inning. Puig’s leadoff single in the bottom of the fourth was followed by Grandal and Will Venable going down swinging. Scott Van Slyke pinch hit for Coleman and kept the inning alive by drawing a walk.
It paid off as Utley and Seager combined for consecutive RBI singles to cut the Dodgers’ deficit to 5-4 before Gallardo could get out of the inning. Seager’s base hit extended his hitting streak to 17 games, which is good for the longest active streak in the Majors.
In addition, it moved Seager into third place in Los Angeles franchise history for longest hitting streak by a rookie. Pedro Baez retired all six batters he faced over the fifth and sixth innings, including two on strikeout.
Odrisamer Despaigne erased a leadoff walk to Grandal in the bottom of the sixth by inducing Venable into a force out. Venable then moved into scoring position on a Despaigne balk. Pinch-hitter Howie Kendrick struck out swinging, but Utley’s RBI single tied the game.
Jones’ throw to home plate was cut off and Utley was caught in a rundown to end the inning. Though, the third out was recorded well after Venable scored. Joe Blanton worked around a pair of base hits in the seventh to keep the game locked in a 5-5 tie.
Seager led off the bottom of the seventh with a triple down the right field line. Turner’s sacrifice fly gave the Dodgers their first lead of the night. After J.P. Howell kept the Orioles off the board in the eighth, Kendrick drove a double down the right field to bring home an insurance run.
Kenley Jansen came on in the ninth to conver the save opportunity in the Dodgers’ 7-5 victory. Los Angeles extended their winning streak to five games and their home winning streak to 10 games. It marked the second time this season Los Angeles has won at least five consecutive games.
