Scherzer delivers in debut, Dodgers hold on for win

LOS ANGELES — It was the largest crowd to watch a major league game this season, and all 52,000 fans crammed into Dodger Stadium got their money’s worth. Max Scherzer was brilliant in his debut, going seven innings and giving up only two earned runs. The offense, so sleepy on Tuesday, exploded for early runs, hitting four homers in the first three innings and staking Mad Max to a five-run lead. The bullpen was a little hinky, but in the end, the Dodgers held on to win a thrilling game by a score of 7-5.

Scherzer gives up early homer

The game started off a little shaky for the three time Cy Young award winner. After striking out Jose Altuve, Michael Brantley drilled a four-seamer over the right field fence, and before the paying customers had a chance to buy their nachos, the Dodgers were in a 0-1 hole. However, Scherzer quickly righted the ship. He surrendered a single to Carlos Correa, but retired the next two batters to limit the damage to only the Brantley homer.

Dodgers ride homers to 4-1 lead

In the Dodgers’ half of the first, the home team got busy quickly. Mookie Betts greeted Astros* starter Jake Odorizzi with the 28th lead-off homerun of his career. He took the third pitch he saw deep to center for his 16th home run of the year. In the last seven games Betts is on fire: hitting .536 with a slug over 1.200.

The Dodgers weren’t done in the first though. After a Max Muncy walk and an Altuve throwing error on a force play at second, the Dodgers had something cooking again. Will Smith stepped to the plate with one out and a couple of ducks on the pond. Smith worked himself into a nice 2-0 hitters count, and Odorizzi threw him a fastball that got way too much of the plate. Smith blasted the ball to right for a three-run home run, and before Max Scherzer threw another pitch, he had been treated to a 4-1 lead.

Betts goes for two

The Dodgers’ bats just kept on rolling. Odorizzi’s pitches must have looked like batting practice to Mookie Betts, because in his next at-bat, Mookie hit another solo shot, this one to left. The Dodgers are simply a better team when Betts is hitting, and as long as he continues to perform, you feel like it’s just a matter of time before the team runs down the Giants in the standings. Plus, he played some more solid second base tonight, so things are going very well in Mookie land.

Pollock’s hot streak continues

In the third, the home run party continued. This time, it was AJ Pollock who did the honors. With two outs in the inning, Chris Taylor drew a four-pitch walk. That set the stage for Pollock two-run job to left field. He absolutely smoked an Odorizzi fastball and deposited it into the Dodgers’ bullpen. With the Dodgers already up 7-1 and hitting everything in sight, it was starting to look like it was going to be a rout.

Mad Max, Dodger legend?

Meanwhile, Max Scherzer was magnificent. Working efficiently and pounding the strike zone, his control was otherworldly on Wednesday night. Out of 109 pitches, he landed 73 for strikes, and seemed to be working ahead most of the night. He only issued one walk all evening, and the Astros* hitters were unable to figure him out throughout his outing. He did give up a two-out RBI single to Kyle Tucker in the fourth, but that was it. Otherwise, he was stellar, scattering five hits over seven innings while striking out ten Astros*. If his debut is any indication, Dodger fans are going to be in the Mad Max fan club very quickly.

No me gusta the bullpen

Joe Kelly and Kenley Jansen tried to bring the ship into port for the Dodgers on Wednesday, and things could have gone a bit better. Kelly gave up a solo homer to Carlos Correa in the latest episode of that particular telenovela. Then, in the ninth, Kenley Jansen gave up a lead-off single to Aledmys Diaz, which was quickly followed by a Kyle Tucker two run blast. Suddenly it was only a 7-5 Dodger advantage. However, Jansen was able to send the crowd home happy with three straight strikeouts to end the game.

Angels in for a weekend set

So except for the bullpen hiccups, it was a perfect night at the Ravine. Good hitting, lots of booing, and a spectacular debut from Max Scherzer. Fasten those seatbelts, Dodger fans. We’ve got seven more weeks of this to go.

After an off day on Thursday, the Dodgers play the crosstown rival Angels for a weekend series. Superstar two-way player Shohei Ohtani pitched on Wednesday night, so he won’t be seeing action on the mound this weekend. Instead, he will probably see limited duty as he hasn’t played the field a whole lot this season. We shall see.