Edwin Ríos delivered another big hit but the Los Angeles Dodgers suffered a 5-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Dodgers dropped the series, but finished 4-2 on their road trip.
The defeat spoiled the afternoon for Ryan Pepiot in what was his MLB debut. The scouting report on Pepiot thus far in his Minor League career is he throws an elite changeup but can struggle with control and command. All of that played out over Pepiot’s three scoreless innings.
He frequently threw a first pitch-strike and only allowed one hit, but also issued five walks. Pepiot’s biggest brush with trouble came when two walks and a hit batter loaded the bases with two outs in the second inning. He escaped the jam by striking Bryan Reynolds.
Overall, Pepiot stranded seven baserunners in his short outing.
The Pirates’ bullpen game got off to a strong start as Dillon Peters retired the first eight batters faced and completed three scoreless innings. Freddie Freeman’s leadoff single in the fourth inning knocked Peters out of the game, but the Dodgers left two on base.
L.A. threatened again in the sixth inning, when Trea Turner led off with a double. However, Freeman’s line drive was caught by Max Kranick and led to a double play. The sequence stung even more as Will Smith followed that with a base hit.
Tommy Kahnle surrendered two home runs in the bottom of the sixth to put the Dodgers in a 3-0 deficit. It snapped Kahnle’s early string of scoreless appearances was snapped at two.
The Dodgers responded in the seventh behind Ríos’ three-run double that tied the game. It was Ríos’ third extra-base hit of the series and came in a second consecutive start.
Despite Ríos being in scoring position with nobody out, and the Dodgers going on to again load the bases, they were unable to take a lead.
Daniel Hudson was next out of the Dodgers bullpen to be hurt by the long ball, with Daniel Vogelbach’s solo shot putting the Pirates ahead in the bottom of the seventh inning. Pittsburgh added an insurance run in the eighth.
The five runs allowed by Dodgers relief pitcher marked a season high.
Pirates buck history against Dodgers
The Dodgers went into this week’s series having won 16 consecutive games against the Pirates. That was snapped Monday night, and the series loss to the Pirates is their first since dropping three in a row from June 24-26, 2016.
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