Tyler Glasnow left his start after only one inning, but the Dodgers’ struggling offense picked up the slack in a cathartic 12-2 bludgeoning of the Houston Astros on Wednesday afternoon getaway day at Daikin Park in Houston.
Held to only one run in Tuesday night’s loss, the Dodgers were just 2-3 on the road trip, scoring two or fewer runs in five of their previous seven games. Dating back to April 21, the start of a series in San Francisco, the Dodgers averaged just 3.64 runs in their previous 14 games,
with an 86 wRC+ that ranked 27th in the majors that fueled a 6-8 record.
When Glasnow walked off the mound with lower back pain while warming up for the second inning, the game was tied at one apiece. The Dodgers scored each of their first three runs on Wednesday on wild pitches, which was very funny for an offense having so much trouble scoring of late, including going six games without a home run last week, their longest power drought in a dozen years.
But the setup for those first three runs — one in the second inning, two in the third — was promising, with a double and single in the second, followed by a walk and a double in the third. The Dodgers did not stop reaching base, then began to plate runs in a more traditional manner.
After the third wild pitch by Lance McCullers Jr., Freddie Freeman and Kyle Tucker walked, then with two outs Andy Pages gave the Dodgers some rare breathing room of late by unloading for a three-run home run to left field.
That snapped a homerless drought of 83 plate appearances for Pages, dating back to April 13. He did not have a lapse until his next home run, lining a ball into the Crawford Boxes for a two-run shot in the fifth inning, turning this one into a rout.
Pages even added a third home run in the ninth inning, off position player César Salazar. He joins Max Muncy as the two Dodgers with three home runs in a game this season. Six runs batted in Thursday are a career high for Pages, whose hit streak reached eight games.
The first two home runs for Pages were on two-seam fastballs, something manager Dave Roberts before the game identified as a weakness in the scuffling offense of late.
“We don’t hit the fastball. It’s just fact that teams in baseball that are offensive hit the fastball. When you’re passive, you’re late on the fastball,” Roberts told reporters in Houston, as shown on SportsNet LA. “You’re not scaring pitchers out of the hitting zone, as opposed to being aggressive and scaring them out of the hitting zone. That starts by getting on the fastball.
Shohei Ohtani’s double in the third inning snapped an 0-for-18 skid at the plate, part of a two-hit day that also included a walk. Freeman doubled for the second game in a row while using a new batting stance with his front foot facing inward to help keep him from flying open on his swing, and also walked twice.
Hyeseong Kim tripled and singled. Tucker had two hits and reached base twice in all three games of the series in one of his former home ballparks. Alex Freeland singled and walked, reaching base eight times during the series.
All that offense provided the perfect backdrop for a bullpen that had to get the final 24 outs on Wednesday, their toughest test of the season. But with Dodgers starting pitchers going deep into games with regularity this season, including at least six innings from the rotation in each of the previous four games, Los Angeles relievers were well rested for the task.
Jack Dreyer and Edgardo Henriquez did the heavy lifting, each completing two scoreless innings. Kyle Hurt struck out two in his scoreless inning, followed by Blake Treinen allowing a run on two hits in his two frames.
Tanner Scott pitched a perfect eighth, then Brock Stewart struck out two in a perfect ninth just hours after he was activated off the injured list. It was Stewart’s first game for the Dodgers since last August 9, with September shoulder surgery in between.
“It’s a good feeling, and whatever I can do to help, I’m going to do it,” Stewart told Kirsten Watson on SportsNet LA before the game. “I like where my stuff’s at right now, so I think I can help the team, and I’m really looking forward to it. … It feels fun to throw the ball again, let’s go.”
Wednesday particulars
Home runs: Andy Pages 3 (8); Brice Matthews (4)
WP — Jack Dreyer (2-1): 2 IP, 1 hit, 1 strikeout
LP — Lance McCullers Jr. (2-3): 2 2/3 IP, 4 hits, 6 runs, 3 walks, 4 strikeouts
Up next
The Dodgers are off on Thursday before starting a homestand against the Atlanta Braves, owners of the best record in baseball beginning Friday night at Dodger Stadium (7:10 p.m., SportsNet LA). Emmet Sheehan starts the series opener, with Chris Sale on the mound for Atlanta.
