The Los Angeles Dodgers bounced back from a series-opening loss to defeat the Tampa Bay Rays, 6-5 on Saturday, led by the offensive performances of Max Muncy, Miguel Vargas and Freddie Freeman.
Muncy started the scoring in the second inning when he blasted his 16th homer of the year to put the Dodgers up 1-0. He then came through again in the fourth inning with an RBI double that scored J.D. Martinez and added onto L.A.’s lead.
The 32-year-old slugger then came around to score a run when Tyler Glasnow threw a wild pitch, putting the Dodgers up 3-0.
However, the Rays began to rally in the fourth, scoring two runs on a single from Manuel Margot. Tampa Bay then took the lead in the fifth inning when Harold Ramírez hit a two-run shot off Clayton Kershaw that put them up 4-3.
This feels familiar. pic.twitter.com/G96TiTQgc7
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) May 27, 2023
Tie game! pic.twitter.com/K6TTo0ex8a
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) May 27, 2023
Freddie is good at baseball. pic.twitter.com/iDz21ZcWaZ
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) May 27, 2023
Hello, Miggy! pic.twitter.com/mmrt3qMTO3
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) May 27, 2023
Victory formation!
Dodgers x @Yaamava pic.twitter.com/6kVbO0tw4g
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) May 27, 2023
The Dodgers tied the game in the seventh inning when Mookie Betts singled to bring in Miguel Vargas. They then took the lead during the next at-bat when Freeman hit his 20th double of the season, which allowed Betts to score, making the score 5-4.
Vargas hit his fifth homer of the season in the eighth inning to give the Dodgers some insurance, which proved to be the difference in the game when the Rays added a run in the ninth. The Rays threatened to tie the game in the final inning with a runner on third, but Caleb Ferguson forced Ramírez to ground out, securing the Dodgers’ comeback victory.
Kershaw struggles, but Dodgers bullpen comes through
Kershaw was on the mound for his first start since returning from the bereavement list, and he once again did not have a strong outing. The southpaw gave up four runs across five innings while striking out six and walking two.
Kershaw has now made three consecutive below-average starts, totaling just 12.2 innings across them with 10 earned runs allowed.
Following Kershaw, the Dodgers bullpen combined to pitch four innings while allowing just one run, which was charged to Ferguson, who also picked up his second save of the season.
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