The Los Angeles Dodgers hit four fly balls to the warning track and ran themselves out of the sixth inning, but still managed to pull away late for a 6-1 win over the Chicago White Sox. The victory put the Dodgers 50 games over .500 for the first time since 1953.
Alex Wood’s first pitch of the game was deposited into the left-field pavilion by Tim Anderson. The leadoff home run was the fourth of Anderson’s career. Jose Abreu and Kevan Smith each singled in the first inning but were left at the corners.
Wood proceed to allow one hit in the second, fourth and seventh innings. He didn’t allow the White Sox to add to their 1-0 lead, however. Wood finished with six strikeouts in his quality start.
Miguel Gonzalez made the slim lead stand, even if it meant four fly balls hit to the warning track, until the Dodgers eventually managed to break through in the bottom of the sixth. He allowed a base hit to Justin Turner and walked Cody Bellinger in the first inning but they were stranded by Yasmani Grandal.
Corey Seager doubled in the third and Bellinger worked his second walk of the game, only for Grandal to leave another pair of baserunners on.
Following a Bellinger infield single in the bottom of the sixth, Grandal beat the shift by slapping a base hit into left field. Yasiel Puig, who started in the six-hole for only the seventh time this season, walked on four pitches to load the bases.
Logan Forsythe’s sacrifice fly tied the game, however Grandal caught in a rundown to end the inning. Grandal walked with one out in the bottom of the eighth and Puig followed suit, loading the bases for Forsythe.
Jake Petricka induced Forsythe into a force out, only to hit Pederson with a pitch to bring in the go-ahead run. The Dodgers then pulled away behind a pinch-hit two run single by Austin Barnes and a two-run single from Seager.
In spite of their win, the Dodgers’ 57-game streak with at least two extra-base hits in every game, the longest in MLB history since at least 1913, came to an end.
