HOUSTON –– It was a battle of injured pitchers on Wednesday afternoon at Daikin Park.
But in the Dodgers’ 12-2 win over the Astros, only one team could take advantage.
While Dodgers starter Tyler Glasnow exited the game early with low back pain, Astros right-hander Lance McCullers Jr. tried to push through what appeared to be a blister.
A resurgent Dodgers offense would make him.
McCullers not only gave up three early runs but watched all of them score via wild pitches. Then, in the third inning, he surrendered a three-run home run to Andy Pages, the first of three long balls Pages would hit on a day almost everyone else in the Dodgers’ lineup –– including the previously slumping Shohei Ohtani –– also made key contributions.
McCullers’ counterpart, Glasnow, suffered from his own physical ailment. After recording his 1,000th career strikeout in the first, the lanky right-hander left the game while warming up for the second with what the team announced as “low back pain.”
However, the Dodgers’ relief corps shined in Glasnow’s absence, getting eight combined innings of one-run ball from six different arms.
The way the Dodgers roughed up a short-handed and beaten-down Astros pitching staff, that would be more than enough to help them win the series rubber match and salvage a .500 record on this St. Louis/Houston road swing.
What it means
Depending on the severity of Glasnow’s injury –– which was not immediately clear –– the Dodgers could have to shuffle their rotation; although, Blake Snell’s impending return gives them an easy replacement option.
Otherwise, Wednesday provided the most encouraging sign yet that the Dodgers (23-14) are emerging from their recent offensive slump, finishing the day with 14 hits (half of them for extra bases), a 5-for-12 mark with runners in scoring position, and the type of all-around production that should be expected against a league-worst Astros pitching staff.
Pages’ three home runs were the biggest highlights, but there were other positive performances up and down the lineup.
Ohtani snapped an 0-for-18 skid by collecting two hits, including a double in the second that helped spark the eventual five-run rally, and a walk.
Freddie Freeman hit his second opposite-field double in as many days in the fourth, driving in a run while toying with a new batting stance.
Kyle Tucker, Hyeseong Kim and Dalton Rushing also had two hits each.
And the score got so out of hand, manager Dave Roberts was able to get a handful of his starters off their feet early.
Who’s hot
In the opening few weeks of the season, Pages dominated this category.
Over the last couple days, he has started to do so again.
After batting .412 in his first 19 games, then slumping to a .200 average over his subsequent 16 contests, Pages seemed to find his swing again this week in Houston, following a three-hit performance Tuesday with his first career three-homer game Wednesday.
Entering the day, Pages had gone 20 games without a big fly. Then, he worked an eight-pitch at-bat in the third against McCullers that ended with a towering three-run drive that cleared the Crawford Boxes in left.
His next time up, Pages produced a similar result, hitting another home run on another inside sinker (this time from reliever Jason Alexander) that went screaming into the short porch in left. In the ninth, he made it a trifecta against position-player pitcher Cesar Salazar, gifting the Crawford Boxes one more souvenir.
With that, Pages raised his batting average to .336 and his OPS to .945. His seven home runs are tied for second most on the team, while his 32 RBIs are tied for second most in the majors.
Who’s not
There was only one Dodgers starter who did not get a hit Wednesday. And he might now be the coldest hitter on the team.
Teoscar Hernández went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts before being removed early. He is now batting .231 this season with a .668 OPS –– the worst numbers among anyone on the club with at least 30 at-bats.
The 33-year-old slugger had started the season well, carrying a .300 average and .900 OPS through April 15. Since then, however, he is 10-for-63 with just one extra-base hit in his last 17 games, leading to some visible frustration amid another hitless performance Wednesday.
Up next
The Dodgers are off Thursday before opening a weeklong homestand on Friday by welcoming the MLB-leading Braves to town.
