LOS ANGELES_Kenley Jansen stewed inside the bullpen as the eighth inning unfolded, waiting to engage with a foe he had not seen in nine months. A distance of 275 days separated Friday and Game 7 of the World Series, when the Houston Astros captured a championship and denied Jansen a chance to atone for his rare lapses earlier in the Series.
Jansen remained unsatisfied in the first game of this weekend rematch, kept holstered in the bullpen as his teammates could not solve Justin Verlander in a 2-1 defeat. His offense could not provide him a game to save.
A night after scoring 21 runs, the Los Angeles Dodgers were reminded what an ace looks like. Verlander struck out 14 across 72/3 innings. He gave up a home run to Joc Pederson leading off the bottom of the first. From there, he overwhelmed his hosts with a cruel blend of overbearing fastballs and deceptive offspeed. The Dodgers (61-50) never formulated an answer.
Alex Wood gritted through six innings without much command. He permitted two runs on four hits. He exited with a trainer after warming up for the seventh inning. He took the loss because his teammates were muffled by Verlander.
And so this relatively meaningful series in August resembled the heartbreaking classic from last October. The Dodgers played well. The Astros played better.
The reunion did not invite pleasant memories for the Dodgers. The wounds still feel fresh. Houston manager A.J. Hinch is a good friend of Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. Their families are close. They have taken vacations together. They hung out at the All-Star game in Washington last month. Yet Hinch said he and Roberts had never discussed the outcome of the World Series. Maybe when they're both retired, Hinch reasoned, it might come up.
"It's another series, but can I say it's just like all the rest?" Roberts said. "We're facing the world champions. We're looking forward to it."
A rematch this fall is still possible. Boston boasts a frightening offense and the best record in baseball, but the Astros remain formidable. Their lineup is still stocked to the brim. The addition of Gerrit Cole this winter bolstered their rotation. At the trade deadline, the team made the unseemly decision to acquire reliever Roberto Osuna, a talented pitcher who is serving a 75-game suspension for violating the sport's domestic violence policy after his arrest for allegedly assaulting a woman in May.
On Friday, the Dodgers saw a depleted version of the Astros. Houston lacked second baseman Jose Altuve, shortstop Carlos Correa and catcher Brian McCann. The lineup remained formidable, featuring so many of the foes who haunted the Dodgers last October: outfielder George Springer, infielder Alex Bregman, utility man Marwin Gonzalez.
On the mound for Houston was Verlander. the 35-year-old horse who was rejuvenated by a late-August trade to the Astros last season. He experienced a jolt in the bottom of the first inning. For the second game in a row, Pederson homered in his team's first at-bat.
Verlander attacked Pederson with fastballs. Pederson saw four of them. The last clocked on the radar gun at 96 mph and burrowed inside. Pederson boomed a skyscraping drive that landed a few rows deep in the right-field corner for his 17th homer of 2018.
The Astros answered in the second. Wood failed to command the strike zone as former Angel Martin Maldonado walked and outfielder Jake Marisnick singled. Up came Springer with two outs. Springer knocked a well-placed changeup into center field for a double. Maldonado scored, and so did Marisnick when Cody Bellinger botched a sliding scoop attempt on the hit.
The initial blow from Pederson did not rock Verlander. He struck out nine through four innings. The Dodgers could not catch up with his fastball, and could not find his curveball or his slider.
To open the bottom of the fifth, Verlander disarmed Max Muncy in characteristic fashion. Muncy fouled off a 95-mph fastball for strike one. He missed another 95-mph heater for strike two. Verlander ended the affair with an 88-mph slider aimed at Muncy's back foot. Muncy swung but connected only with the air.
Verlander started two World Series games at Dodger Stadium last year. In each, he faltered in the sixth inning, handing the lead back to his hosts.
Verlander did better Friday. He issued a two-out walk to Justin Turner in the sixth, but snapped a 2-2 curveball for a strike against Yasmani Grandal to escape the frame.
When the seventh inning began, Wood returned to the mound. He had thrown 105 pitches, his highest total since April 13, 2016. As he warmed up, a trainer visited him. The two left together and Dylan Floro came on to replace Wood.
The team can afford to place Wood on the disabled list. They expect to activate Ross Stripling, who is currently sidelined with a relatively minor toe injury, next week in Colorado.
The Dodgers tried to mount an offensive against Verlander in the eighth. Chris Taylor led off with a single. Called off the bench, Brian Dozier flied out on the first pitch he saw. Pederson sent the crowd into a frenzy when he cranked a 3-0 fastball down the right-field line, but the ball flew well foul. After Verlander fanned Pederson with a slider on a full count, he ceded the stage to reliever Hector Rondon.
Waiting for Rondon was Manny Machado, the most dangerous weapon added to the Dodgers roster since last autumn. He still could not punish Rondon. Machado fell behind in the count and flied out to strand the tying run.
Rondon finished the save in the ninth. Jansen could only watch.
