The Los Angeles Dodgers extended their winning streak to five games as they defeated the Miami Marlins, 6-3, to open their series at Dodger Stadium.
The Dodgers’ offense hit four home runs, but the most notable part of the game was Walker Buehler’s return from Tommy John surgery.
Buehler was activated prior to the game to make his first start since June 10, 2022, when he injured his UCL and underwent the elbow procedure for the second time in his career.
The plan was for Buehler to pitch around 80-85 pitches, and he ended up throwing 77 over four innings, giving up three runs on six hits with four strikeouts and no walks.
His first inning back on the mound proved to be a struggle as he gave up two runs on three singles before getting out of the inning thanks to batter’s interference.
Buehler allowed a home run to Nick Gordon to begin the second inning, and then began to settle into his outing more.
He picked up his first strikeout in the second as well, and he allowed just one single in the third with another two punchouts.
The right-hander hit a batter in his final inning, but got a double play to get out of the inning facing the minimum.
Shohei Ohtani tied the game in the first with his MLB-leading 11th home run, and Freddie Freeman made it back-to-back blasts with a solo homer.
It was the first time in 2024 the Dodgers have hit consecutive homers.
James Outman extended the Dodgers lead with a two-run shot in the second, giving them a 5-3 lead.
Teoscar Hernández then joined in to the home run part with a solo blast of his own in the third.
Following Buehler, Ryan Yarbrough took over in the fifth inning and shut down the Marlins for three innings. Yarbrough has been getting most of his work in bullpen games, but Buehler being limited to four innings provided them a good opportunity for Yarbrough to eat some innings.
Blake Treinen followed Yarbrough in the eighth inning, pitching back-to-back days in the Majors for the first time since 2022. He worked a scoreless inning and struck out one.
Alex Vesia received the first save opportunity with Evan Phillips on the 15-day injured list, and pitched a perfect inning to secure the win.
Andy Pages records first Dodgers walk
Andy Pages also drew the first walk of his career, which normally wouldn’t be notable, but it came on the 77th at-bat of his career and amid a red-hot start. He also singled in the third inning.
Pages was able to draw walks at a strong rate in the Minor Leagues, but he brought an aggressive approach to the plate with the Dodgers.
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