HOUSTON –– It was a battle of injured pitchers on Wednesday afternoon at Daikin Park.
But in the Dodgers’ 12-2 win over the Astros, only one team could take advantage.
WhileDodgers starter Tyler Glasnowexited the game early with low back pain, Astros right-hander Lance McCullers Jr. tried to push through what appeared to be a blister.
A resurgent Dodgers offense would make him.
McCullers not only gave up three early runs but watched all of them score via wild pitches. Then, in the third inning, he surrendered a three-run home run to Andy Pages, the first of three long balls Pages would hit on a day almost everyone else in the Dodgers’ lineup –– including the previously slumpingShohei Ohtani–– also made key contributions.
McCullers’ counterpart, Glasnow, suffered from his own physical ailment. After recording his 1,000th career strikeout in the first, the lanky right-hander left the game while warming up for the second with what the team announced as “low back pain.”
However, the Dodgers’ relief corps shined in Glasnow’s absence, getting eight combined innings of one-run ball from six different arms.
The way the Dodgers roughed up a short-handed and beaten-down Astros pitching staff, that would be more than enough to help them win the series rubber match and salvage a .500 record on this St. Louis/Houston road swing.
Depending on the severity of Glasnow’s injury –– which was not immediately clear –– the Dodgers could have to shuffle their rotation; although, Blake Snell’s impending return gives them an easy replacement option.
Otherwise, Wednesday provided the most encouraging sign yet that the Dodgers (23-14) are emerging from their recent offensive slump, finishing the day with 14 hits (half of them for extra bases), a 5-for-12 mark with runners in scoring position, and the type of all-around production that should be expected against a league-worst Astros pitching staff.
Source: California Post – Breaking California News, Photos & Videos
