The Los Angeles Dodgers began their much-anticipated two-game series against the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park on Tuesday night, coming away with a 5-2 victory to get back over .500 on the young season.
Walker Buehler got the start on the mound in his season debut for the Dodgers and only went 3.2 innings due to a limited pitch count. He didn’t look his sharpest, which can be expected without the luxury of a true Spring Training, but still managed to allow just three hits and two runs while striking out three and walking one.
The Dodgers trailed 2-0 going into the fifth inning, although that’s when their bats came alive. They were the victims of bad luck through the first four innings, often hitting balls hard, just right at defenders. That luck finally began to shift in the fifth.
Corey Seager led off the inning with a single to center, and then AJ Pollock and Kiké Hernandez both did the same to load the bases. From there, it was a merry-go-round on the basepaths as Mookie Betts walked to bring home a run, Max Muncy brought home another on an error, Justin Turner and Cody Bellinger both had RBI singles and Chris Taylor capped off the rally with another bases-loaded walk.
While the Dodgers didn’t score any more runs on the night, they finished with 10 hits and six walks while also hitting the ball hard a ton, so they’re clearly taking some quality at-bats.
The three runs were more than enough for the Dodgers bullpen, which was flawless on the night. Adam Kolarek, Brusday Graterol, Joe Kelly, Caleb Ferguson, Blake Treinen and Kenley Jansen combined to toss 5.1 scoreless innings, allowing just one hit in the process. Jansen allowed the one hit in the ninth, but was able to close it out to earn his first save of the season.
Kelly gets testy with Correa in sixth innings
Kelly had by far the most interesting outing of the night as on a 3-0 pitch to Alex Bregman, he threw a 96 MPH fastball behind him and over his head. He then threw a couple of breaking balls close to Carlos Correa, leading to the pair exchanging some words and the benches clearing after he struck him out to end the inning.
It’s no secret these two teams have no love lost for each other after the Astros cheated to defeat the Dodgers in the 2017 World Series, so it wasn’t surprising to see this happen in their first matchup of the season even though nothing escalated.
The two teams will square off for the final time at Minute Maid Park on Wednesday night, which could potentially lead to some more fireworks.
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