The Los Angeles Dodgers overcame an early four-run deficit as they came-from-behind to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 5-4, on Monday afternoon at PNC Park.
For the second straight day, the Dodgers found themselves trailing by four runs after the Pirates put up a four-spot in the first inning. Unlike Sunday—which saw Clayton Kershaw lose just his second game of the season—the Dodgers crawled out of the four-run hole to avoid a four-game sweep.
Pittsburgh was looking to rewrite history after they swept the Dodgers at PNC Park last season. Things got off to a good start as the Pirates scored four in the first inning off Scott Kazmir.
Kazmir's Achilles' heel continues to be the first inning as he struggled again, walking three batters to start the game. The left-hander has allowed a whopping 16 first-inning runs in his 16 starts this season.
Chris Taylor made his Dodgers debut with a leadoff triple in the third inning. The shortstop was acquired from the Seattle Mariners in a trade for Zach Lee last week.
Justin Turner plated Taylor with a sacrifice fly, to put the Dodgers on the board. The RBI was Turner's 22nd in the month of June, the most in a single month since Adrian Gonzalez knocked in 24 runs in 2014.
LA finally broke through off Francisco Liriano in the fifth inning. Enrique Hernandez worked a one-out walk and advanced to third on a double by Turner. Two batters later, Yasiel Puig hit a two-run single off Liriano before he was removed from the game for the right-hander Jared Hughes.
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Hughes didn't fair much better as Howie Kendrick tied the game with an RBI single and Puig scored the go-ahead run on a two-out single by A.J. Ellis to put the Dodgers in front.
Liriano (4-8) allowed five runs (four earned) on four hits with five walks and three strikeouts in just 4 and 1/3 innings pitched.
Kazmir (6-3) pitched with the lead for the first time in the bottom of the fifth inning and struck out Starling Marte with runners on first and second to end the inning. The veteran left-hander allowed four runs on four hits with four walks and four strikeouts in five innings.
The LA bullpen threw four scoreless innings to get the victory as Kenley Jansen came in the bottom of the eighth for a four-out save and his 22nd of the season.
Players of the Game:
Yasiel Puig: Two-run single.
A.J. Ellis: Game-winning RBI single.
Andrew McCutchen: 2-for-4 with a run scored.
Three Takeaways:
1. First-Inning Follies: Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Scott Kazmir has struggled in the first-inning of games all season. He once again fell victim to the first-inning faux pas as he walked three batters and allowed four runs in the first frame on Monday. Kazmir has allowed 16 first-inning runs in 16 starts this season and has a first-inning ERA of 9.00.
Scott Kazmir's first inning: 4 R, 3 H, 3 BB
Scott Kazmir's final four innings: 0 R, 1 H, 1 BB. — J.P. Hoornstra (@jphoornstra) June 27, 2016
2. Throw Some Dirt on it: Scott Kazmir's sudden change of momentum might have come after he asked the grounds crew to add some dirt to the pitcher's mound in the middle of the game.
The mound is being repaired for Scott Kazmir before the bottom of the third inning gets underway. — Dodger Blue (@DodgerBlue1958) June 27, 2016
3. Sweep it Under the Rug: Pittsburgh was looking for their first four-game sweep over the Los Angeles Dodgers since August of 1944.
Dodgers Avoid Sweep With Win Over Pirates https://t.co/iGQUiZAnMD — CaliSports News (@CaliSportsnews) June 28, 2016
Up Next:
Dodgers (42-36): Los Angeles heads to Milwaukee where Julio Urias looks for his first career victory on Tuesday night at 5:10PM PST.
Pirates (37-40): Pittsburgh travels to the west cast for games against Seattle, Oakland and St. Louis.
