The Los Angeles Dodgers finished their road trip at .500, and are exhaling in a multitude of ways.
The most immediate concern was for their starting pitcher, Tyler Glasnow, who exited Wednesday’s matinee game against the Houston Astros just after taking the mound to warm up for the second inning. Initial news was that it was Glasnow’s lower back that was bothering him.
Back pain is nothing new to Glasnow, who has dealt with it most of his major league career. Most recently the 6’8” pitcher skipped
a start last September dealing with what he called “tall guy back”. In 2024 he also dealt with it but avoided the IL.
Glasnow did not put up too much of a fight when the trainer came out to talk to him. He had thrown 19 pitches in the first inning, and that would be all he would throw. After the game, Manager Dave Roberts said that there would be a precautionary MRI when the team returned to Los Angeles, but Glasnow is not expected to land on the IL.
“I think today, given the situation with Tyler, it couldn’t have been a better outcome,” Roberts said.
Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic has more info on Glasnow and the pitching staff as a whole here.
Another thing that led to a happy flight home was the offense continued to score against the Astros. The team scored eight in Monday’s game, only one in Tuesday’s game, but then erupted for 12 runs in Wednesday’s game.
They started the game by scoring on three different wild pitches off the arm of Lance McCullers Jr, but that triplet was overshadowed by Andy Pages’ three home runs. He had half of the RBI and made some great plays in center.
“Just having a lot of confidence in what I’m doing up there,” Pages said through interpreter Juan Dorado. “The bad streak really happened when I was hitting the ball well and hitting the ball hard, just not finding a lot of holes. But staying to my plan, staying confident in my approach, and the results are coming now.”
Courtney Hollman of MLB.com covers more of Roberts’ thoughts on the day.
The end of the exhale was over other certain players performances at the plate. Shohei Ohtani had a double to right center in his second at bat, and added a walk and an RBI single to his day. Kyle Tucker’s bat also seemed to come alive in Houston, going 7-for 21.
Bill Plunkett of the OC Register goes in depth with quotes from players here.
The Dodgers will need all cylinders firing together as they will begin a three-game set with the Atlanta Braves on Friday, who are owners of the best record in all of MLB.
