Curtis Granderson hit a grand slam to cap off a five-run seventh inning to erase a deficit but the Los Angeles Dodgers blew their lead before squeaking out with a 6-5 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates in 12 innings, thanks to Yasiel Puig’s home run.
Ross Stripling converted the save in the Dodgers’ 39th come-from-behind victory this season. They also extended their winning streak to 38 games when scoring at least four runs, which is the best stretch since the 1954 Cleveland Indians.
Prior to Puig delivering the game-winning home run, the Dodgers squandered an opportunity in the 10th to take a lead. Three walks loaded the bases, but they were left that way for a third time, as Chris Taylor flied out.
Los Angeles erased a 3-0 deficit in the seventh behind a five-run inning. Gerrit Cole had twice stranded the bases loaded and prevented the leadoff man from reaching, until Chase Utley started the inning with a single.
Pinch-hitter Logan Forsythe followed with a walk, and Corey Seager’s one-out RBI single got the Dodgers on the board. Despite appearing fatigued and in another bases-loaded situation, Cole was left in the game.
His hanging slider was crushed by Granderson to right-center field, giving the Dodgers a lead. The grand slam was Granderson’s eighth of his career, second this season, and second home run in his past two games. He’d struck out in his two previous at-bats against Cole on the night.
Per ELIAS, Granderson became the first player in MLB history to hit two grand slams in a four-game span for different teams, and he’s the first do so while batting leadoff and cleanup in the same season.
For the Dodgers, the grand slam was their eighth this season. That ties them with the 1952 Brooklyn team for third-most in franchise history.
Any momentum was quickly erased, however. Tony Watson hit a batter and struck out one in his first appearance against his former team. Pedro Baez inherited the baserunner with one out and promptly allowed an RBI double to Josh Harrison.
Back-to-back walks loaded the bases and a fielder’s choice tied the game. Baez issued a third walk in the inning to again load the bases, and it marked the end of his night. Brandon Morrow retired Jordy Mercer to keep the game locked in a 5-5 tie.
The Dodgers were nearly first to strike in the game as they loaded the bases with one out in the second. Cole escaped the jam by striking out Chase Utley and retiring Wood.
Cole retired nine batters in a row before running into more trouble, which began when he hit Justin Turner with a pitch. Granderson followed with a single and Yasiel Puig walked two batters later to load the bases.
Adrian Gonzalez, who’d singled in the second inning and was one hit shy of 2,000 for his career, flied out to the wall in center field to end the sixth. Gonzalez went hitless over his final four at-bats, delaying history for another game.
Alex Wood entered the night having allowed just seven home runs 117.1 innings over 21 games (19 starts) this season. He surrendered back-to-back solo home runs to Jose Osuna and Sean Rodriguez in the second inning and a solo homer to Josh Harrison in the third.
In addition to potentially over relying on his fastball, Wood’s velocity was again down a tick. He admitted to fatigue just over two weeks ago, was skipped in a start and said to have corrected a mechanical issue that allowed him to return to usual velocity.
Despite the rocky stretch, Wood managed to work his way through six innings. He finished the night by retiring seven batters in a row.
