Tension remained in the air Wednesday night but there was not a repeat of a benches-clearing incident as the Los Angeles Dodgers completed a sweep of the Houston Astros with a 4-2 win in 13 innings.
L.A. squandered multiple opportunities and were largely kept in check until Mookie Betts had his biggest moment with the team. After Max Muncy kept the 11th inning alive by working a two-out walk, Betts delivered an RBI double to give the Dodgers a lead.
However, Betts’ highlight was overshadowed by Edwin Rios crushing a game-winning two-run homer. Up to that point the Dodgers had failed just one hit during extra innings.
Scott Alexander managed to pitch a clean 10th inning but couldn’t replicate that in the 11th. He surrendered back-to-back singles, which pulled Houston even. Alexander induced a grounder for a potential inning-ending double play but Kiké Hernandez dropped the ball on the transfer.
That led to Dennis Santana taking over with runners at the corners. Santana struck out George Springer to end the inning and navigated his way through the next two innings.
With a depleted pitching staff, the Astros turned to Cristian Javier, who made his first career MLB start and only second overall appearance. Javier was pressed into action because of Justin Verlander going on the injured list with a forearm issue.
The young right-hander more than held his own over 5.2 innings. Javier struck out the side in the first inning and had five punchouts through the first two innings. However, Javier still faced a 1-0 deficit because of a Corey Seager home run in the second inning.
Javier retired 12 consecutive batters in a row after the homer, with the streak being snapped on a walk of Austin Barnes with one out in the sixth inning. Muncy then reached on an infield single, but both runners were stranded.
Dustin May’s second opportunity to start in place of Clayton Kershaw produced a similar result as his 2020 debut. May showed flashes of promise but also stretches where he struggled to locate.
To his credit, May limited the damage to just one run as he pitched into the fourth inning.
With the game in the hands of both bullpens, the Dodgers squandered an opportunity to break the 1-1 tie in the eighth inning. AJ Pollock doubled with one out and advanced to third base on a wild pitch. He was replaced by Terrance Gore, only for the speedster to be stranded by Muncy and Austin Barnes.
Kenley Jansen worked around a pair of walks in the bottom of the ninth, sending the Dodgers into their first extra innings game of the season.
Dave Roberts serves suspension
Dodgers bench coach Bob Geren was acting manager Wednesday night due to Dave Roberts serving a one-game suspension. Joe Kelly received an eight-game suspension, but appealed and remained eligible for the series finale at Minute Maid Park.
However, Kelly was not among the Dodgers relievers used.
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