The Los Angeles Dodgers have owned the Pittsburgh Pirates over the last three years, winning 17 of the 19 contests between the two teams. That continued Friday night when they began a three-game series at PNC Park as the Dodgers cruised to a 10-2 victory.
The Dodgers offense came out of the gate swinging as Matt Beaty led off the game with a single and then scored on the next pitch when Max Muncy ripped a double into the gap.
After Justin Turner singled and Corey Seager walked to load up the bases, David Freese stepped to the plate with a chance to break it open early against his former team. He was able to do exactly that, launching a grand slam to right-center field to give the Dodgers a 5-0 lead in the first inning.
The Pirates got a run back in the bottom of the second against Dodgers starter Walker Buehler, but Los Angeles quickly added two more in the third. Freese and Kiké Hernandez worked back-to-back walks with two outs, and then Austin Barnes drove them both in with a line-drive double over Starling Marte’s head in center field.
It wasn’t until the seventh inning that the Dodgers picked up the scoring again. Joc Pederson went the other way for a single and then scored on a two-run home run by Cody Bellinger, his 18th of the season to extend the lead to 9-1.
All of those runs were more than enough for Buehler, who turned in a very solid outing when the Dodgers needed it most with two relievers, Joe Kelly and Pedro Baez, both unavailable.
Buehler tossed six innings while allowing just five hits and one run while striking out six and walking one to earn his fifth victory of the season.
The Dodgers added another run in the eighth on a run-scoring triple by Joc Pederson, and the bullpen had no issues closing it out to complete the victory as Ross Stripling, Scott Alexander and Yimi Garcia combined to allow just one run in the final three innings.
