The Dodgers had ample opportunities to score, but wasted all of them as they were shut out by the Pittsburgh Pirates by a 3-0 final score.
Emmet Sheehan was one strike away from recording a perfect first inning, but a 2-2 changeup to Bryan Reynolds that caught the outside corner was ruled a ball. Reynolds won the 12-pitch battle against Sheehan by blasting an inside fastball over the right field wall to give the Pirates another first inning lead.
The Dodgers made Braxton Ashcraft labor in the second
inning, as the first three hitters all reached to load the bases after bringing the count full. Ashcraft found himself in another full count spot against Andy Pages with nobody out, but Pages swung at what would’ve been ball four. Ashcraft froze Alex Freeland for the second out and escaped the jam unharmed by inducing a fly ball out of Kiké Hernández.
Andrew McCutchen wasted little time extending the lead for the Pirates, as he crushed a home run down the left field line to give Pittsburgh a two run cushion.
After Ashcraft retired Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts, Dalton Rushing blooped a single into right field before both Freddie Freeman and Teoscar Hernández walked to load the bases again. Alex Call hit a weak ground ball in front of home plate, with Pirates catcher Joey Bart throwing Call out at first to keep the Dodgers scoreless.
The Dodgers once again found themselves with a runner in scoring position with less than two outs against Mike Burrows, but Freeman, representing the potential tying run, grounded into a double play to end the threat.
The Pirates added to their lead in the top of the bottom of the sixth inning against Ben Casparius, as Joey Bart lined an RBI double off the right field wall to extend the lead to three.
Andy Pages’ hit streak was snapped at eight games, as he and the rest of the bottom of the order went hitless.
Shohei Ohtani was the only Dodger on Wednesday with at least two hits and an extra-base hit, as the rest of the lineup slumped to a .116 batting average against the Pirates pitching staff.
Will Smith left the game early with a right hand contusion after the second inning. Dalton Rushing took over in the top of the third and finished the game going 1-2 with a walk.
The Dodgers left 10 runners on base in Wednesday’s loss and went 0-7 with runners in scoring position. The Dodgers still hold a 2 1/2 game lead over the San Diego Padres after San Diego suffered a three game sweep at the hands of the Baltimore Orioles.
Game particulars
- Home runs— Bryan Reynolds (15), Andrew McCutchen (13)
- WP— Mike Burrows (2-4): 3 IP, 2 hits, 0 runs, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts
- LP— Emmet Sheehan (5-3): 4 2/3 IP, 5 hits, 2 earned runs, 2 walks, 6 strikeouts
- SV— Dennis Santana (13): 1 IP, 0 hits, 0 runs, 0 walks, 1 strikeout
Up next
The Dodgers look to avoid being swept by the Pirates as they wrap things up in Pittsburgh on Thursday (3:40 p.m. PT, SportsNet LA) before they fly out to Baltimore to take on the Orioles over the weekend. Blake Snell faces Paul Skenes in the series finale.
