The Los Angeles Dodgers again forced Chris Archer to labor through a short start and used the middle innings to earn an 11-7 comeback win to sweep the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Dodgers not only took all three games at PNC Park but won each of the six head-to-head meetings this season.
Corey Seager’s home run gave the Dodgers a 1-0 lead in the second inning, but it wasn’t until the fifth and sixth that they managed to create some separation. Cody Bellinger’s walk loaded the bases with nobody out in the fifth inning.
Matt Beaty then pulled a two-run single through the right side, pushing the Dodgers ahead at 3-2. Seager’s RBI groundout tacked on another run before Archer could get through the inning. Prior to that he largely managed to pitch through traffic.
Archer exited after five innings, having allowed four runs on six hits and a career-high six walks.
Montana DuRapau didn’t fare much better in the sixth as he immediately allowed a leadoff home run to Joc Pederson. Justin Turner’s single, which improved him to 4-for-4, and Bellinger’s double, led to Beaty collecting a third RBI on a grounder the Pirates couldn’t field.
Beaty later added to his career day with a fourth RBI on a blooper to left field, and Turner’s single in the ninth inning gave him five hits in a game for the first time.
The inning continued to spiral for Pittsburgh from there, as a walk loaded the bases and two straight consecutive hit by pitches extended the Dodgers’ lead to 8-3.
Kenta Maeda was hardly sharp in his return from the 10-day injured list but was successful in limiting damage through his five innings of work. That snapped a string of 12 consecutive quality starts by a Dodgers pitcher.
Maeda was stung by the long ball in the second inning when Bryan Reynolds’ two-run home run gave the Pirates a lead.
Adam Frazier’s two-out solo homer in the fifth cut the Dodgers’ lead to 4-3, but it was offset when they responded with a six-run sixth inning. That also proved key in light of Caleb Ferguson struggling in the bottom of the sixth and allowing three runs.
Pedro Baez worked around a walk in the seventh inning in what was his first appearance since being hit in the knee by a line drive.
