For the second straight night, the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates at Dodger Stadium as they came from behind to earn a 3-1 victory.
The Dodgers’ offense stayed quiet for most of the game, failing to score in the first six innings against Pirates starter Joe Musgrove.
They finally were able to break through in the bottom of the seventh when Max Muncy and Alex Verdugo hit back-to-back singles to begin the inning. Chris Taylor’s sacrifice fly then tied the game.
The biggest swing of the night came later that inning off the bat of Joc Pederson. With two on and two outs, Pirates manager Clint Hurdle decided to leave Musgrove in to face Pederson despite having hit three home runs off the right-hander in his career.
Pederson made both Hurdle and Musgrove pay for that decision, lining a two-run triple into the gap to give the Dodgers a 3-1 lead.
The Pirates quickly threatened in the eighth inning when relief pitcher Caleb Ferguson walked two and gave up a single to load the bases with nobody out.
Pedro Baez was tasked with getting out of the bases-loaded jam, and that is exactly what he did. The right-hander got two pop-ups and a strikeout to maintain the 3-1 lead.
Clayton Kershaw got the start and turned in a brilliant outing, earning his first victory of the season. Kershaw tossed seven innings, allowing just four hits and one run while striking out a season-high eight batters without issuing any walks.
Although it was the first decision Kershaw has factored into, the Dodgers have won each of his three starts this season. And while they were victorious, L.A. saw their MLB record of consecutive home games with a home run snapped at 33.
