Justin Turner added to his career success against Tyler Anderson and it was just enough for the Los Angeles Dodgers in a 2-1 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates. L.A. has now defeated Pittsburgh in 12 consecutive head-to-head meetings.
Rain delayed first pitch at PNC Park by more than an hour, and once the sky cleared, Turner brought the thunder. He entered the night a lifetime 15-for-31 (.484) off Anderson, which was the third-highest batting average in an active batter-pitcher matchup with a minimum of 30 at-bats.
Turner raised that batting average with a solo home run in the first inning, and again in the third with a long ball to left field. Of his 17 career hits against Anderson to that point, seven went for extra bases (four doubles; three home runs).
The multi-home run game was Turner’s first of the season and 11th in his career, with 10 of those coming as a member of the Dodgers.
To Anderson’s credit, he got through six innings with just the two runs allowed.
Although Tony Gonsolin returned from the 60-day injured list to take the fifth starter role in the rotation, the Dodgers still had to rely on a bullpen game.
Gonsolin lacked command and gave up a game-tying RBI single to Gregory Polanco on a line drive that went off Albert Pujols’ glove. Gonsolin needed 36 pitches to get through the first inning and strand the bases loaded.
He struck out the first two batters faced in the second, only to to follow it with three consecutive walks. Victor Gonzalez replaced the right-hander to get the Dodgers out of the jam and complete 1.1 scoreless innings.
Gonsolin allowed just two hits and the one run, had four strikeouts but matched the five outs recorded with that many walks.
A combination of David Price, Joe Kelly, Blake Treinen and Kenley Jansen followed Gonzalez out of the bullpen and helped the Dodgers get a series win. Jansen completed a four-out save, and along with Kelly, pitched on back-to-back nights.
L.A. picked up a full game on both the San Francisco Giants and San Diego Padres in the National League West standings.
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