After taking two of three from the Miami Marlins over the weekend, the Los Angeles Dodgers continued their homestand with a 3-1 win against the Arizona Diamondbacks in Monday’s series opener at Dodger Stadium.
Albert Pujols made an immediate impact in his debut, going 1-for-4 with a two-out RBI single in the third inning. Also playing a big role in the victory was Walker Buehler, who turned in another efficient start.
The right-hander allowed just one hit in seven shutout innings, improving to 2-0 on the season. “Pretty amazing. I never had the opportunity to face him in the past, but just to see him and the electric stuff that he has, just unbelievable,” Pujols said of Buehler’s performance.
“I think that inning he got a little hiccup, he was able to calm himself down and make some good pitches. That’ll tell you how mature he is. He owns the mound when he’s out there. It’s pretty amazing.”
While Buehler was able to hold the Diamondbacks to one hit, he did issue four walks — three of which came in the top of the fourth. He ultimately escaped a bases-loaded, one-out jam by striking out Nick Ahmed and getting Tim Locastro to fly out.
After the frame, Pujols gave some advice to Buehler in the dugout. “I think sometimes an inning like that you can easily get out of your mind,” Pujols explained of why he spoke to Buehler.
“He made some amazing pitches, so I was just telling him, ‘Great job. You made some really mature pitches. You didn’t let the moment take you out of control. You came back and struck out that guy and finished up the inning.’
“Stuff like that to pump him up to let him know he has it under control. I’m going to do that with anybody, whether I’m playing or on the bench. Just pump them up and forget about it.”
Buehler excited to have Pujols on Dodgers
Buehler similarly came away impressed with Pujols, although he noted it will take some time getting used to him being on the Dodgers. “It’s interesting,” Buehler began.
“Obviously, him being in Anaheim for so long, I don’t know if any of us imagined he would be wearing our uniform. Big hit for us tonight and we’re obviously excited to have him in there.”
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