Jim Cella
HOUSTON—Edwin Rios hit the first leadoff 2-run home run in Dodger’s history and helped Los Angeles beat Houston 4-2 in 13 innings. Rios’ first long ball of the year coupled with another lock down effort by the Dodgers’ bullpen gave LA a 2-game sweep over the Astros. Each team scored single runs in the second and 11th innings before Rios’ game-winning laser to right field scored Kiké Hernández from second base. Dennis Santana pitched the final 2.1 innings and struck out four to earn his second career win.
GAME RECAP: The Dodgers got their first look at the new extra-inning rule in MLB. The new rule puts a runner on second base to start each half inning. Neither team scored in the 10th but then the Dodgers used a Mookie Betts 2-out double to take a 2-1 lead in the top of the 11th. Houston tied the game on a Carlos Correa single to right which plated Jack Mayfield who started the inning on second. Dodgers’ reliever Scott Alexander then got two huge outs with runners on first and second before giving way to Santana. Santana came in and struck out George Springer to end the threat. Santana also got out of a jam in the 13th frame as well. The Astros had runners on first and second with no outs in the inning. He then induced a 6-4-3 double play ball off the bat of Correa before Dustin Garneau struck out to end the game.
GAME HIGHLIGHTS:
SWING AWAY: The teams each had four opportunities with the new extra-inning rule and neither squad squared to bunt to sacrifice the runner to third to start the inning.
SERIES STUFF: The win gave the Dodgers their first series sweep over the Astros since the 2011 season when they swept Houston in a 3-game series at Dodger Stadium on Aug. 12-14. Congrats if you knew that the winning pitchers in that LA sweep were Josh Lindblom, Hiroki Kuroda and some guy named Clayton Kershaw. The Dodgers and Astros are now 5-5 in the last 10 games they have played and the Dodgers lead the overall series 391-325.
BULLISH ON THE BULLPEN: The Dodgers’ pen once again displayed their top-level talent. Los Angeles used eight relievers in the series finale. The awesome octet went 9.2 innings, only allowed a single run (in the 11th inning due to the extra-inning rule which is not recorded as an earned run), five hits and fanned 10 batters. The Dodgers’ bullpen pitched 15.0 innings in the 2-game series and didn’t allow an earned run. They gave up only six hits and struck out 16. The Blue Pen has now pitched 31.2 innings, has only allowed four earned runs and has a tidy 1.19 ERA.
THE ZERO PATROL: Alexander, Jake McGhee, Blake Treinen, Caleb Ferguson, Dylan Floro and Kenley Jansen all extended their season streak of innings pitched without giving up an earned run. Alexander went the longest of any reliever on Wednesday, except for Santana, as he went 1.2 innings. He has now pitched 2.2 innings on the year and hasn’t yielded an earned run. McGhee, who was picked up right before the season started, threw 1.0 innings and extended his zero streak to 3.0 innings. Floro went 0.2 innings and is at 2.2 for the season. Ferguson, Treinen and Jansen all went a single scoreless inning. Like Floro, Ferguson has thrown 2.2 innings on the year while both Treinen and Jansen upped their season total to 3.0 innings.
NO CANS ALLOWED: Springer, Jose Altuve and Alex Bregman who make up the Astros No.1, 2 and 3 hitters went a combined 0-for-21 in the series.
HE SAID IT: “Guessing’s harder than knowing.” —Former Dodgers pitcher, and current color commentator, Orel Hershiser after Altuve struck out against Floro in the fifth inning.
RIOS RAKES: Rios became the first player since Yasmani Grandal in 2015 to hit a home run in the 13th or later inning. The long ball was Rios’ fifth of his career and second game-winning blast. He also had the winner last year against the Padres on Sept. 25.
THE HORROR OF 31: The second inning proved to be the undoing for starting pitcher Dustin May. He allowed his only run of the 3.1-inning outing in the second frame but what the real nightmare was the 31 pitches it took him to get the three outs. He finished by making 76 pitches and didn’t have more than 14 in any other inning. May finished the night by allowing three hits and striking out three. He now has a 2.35 ERA in his two starts of the year.
MORE POWER, LESS HITS: The Dodgers’ offense came up with a pair of home runs in the game but had a season-low five hits for the 13 innings. Corey Seager had the lone hit in the first five innings when he connected on a 1-0 fastball and sent it over the right field fence. It was his first HR of the year and only the fifth by a Dodger player. Seager’s home run broke a streak of 78 straight at-bats without a yard shot for LA.
UP NEXT: The Dodgers will have little time to celebrate as they fly directly to Arizona to start a 4-game series with the Diamondbacks on Thursday. Arizona is 2-4 on the year and in last place in the NL West. They are coming off a 7-4 loss at Texas on Wednesday. The D-backs dropped three of four against San Diego to start the year. Ross Stripling is scheduled to make his second start of the year on Thursday. He went 7.0 innings in picking up the win against San Francisco in the second game of the year. Stripling is 1-4 in eight career starts with a 3.86 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP against Arizona. He found the best success of his career against the D-back last year when he posted a 2.50 ERA in five appearances. He also struck out 19 in 18.0 innings pitched. Arizona is slated to throw Dodgers’ nemesis Robbie Ray in the series opener. Like Stripling, Ray will be making his second start of the year. He gave up three earned runs and four hits in 3.2 innings in a 5-1 loss to San Diego. The lefty is 8-5 lifetime vs. LA with a 3.15 ERA and 161 Ks in 120.0 innings pitched. Ray is 5-2 with a 3.28 ERA in the last three years vs. the Dodgers.
I like Rios. He reminds me of Ethier, his built, the way he stands at the plate and swings the bat. I think he’ll have a break out year this year.