PITTSBURGH _ The Los Angeles Dodgers offense does not slow.
In the Dodgers' 8-5 win Tuesday at PNC Park, the Pirates erased an early four-run deficit before the Dodgers _ who at 89 wins and 35 losses hold the best record through 124 games since the 1944 St. Louis Cardinals (93-33) _ zoomed back with the final four runs of the game. With wins in the past two games, Los Angles ensured it is unbeaten in its past 22 series.
Right-hander Jameson Taillon had a hard enough time battling his own command, and the Dodgers took advantage of his missteps. He was charged with five runs in five innings, allowing five hits and issuing five walks _ a career-high _ while striking out only one. The previous night, Taillon had spent extra innings in the bullpen, ready to provide late relief.
The Pirates (60-66) needed distance, having summoned three fresh arms from Class AAA Indianapolis prior to the game Tuesday, and Taillon managed to carry the first five innings _ a small victory.
Dodgers right-hander Brock Stewart, starting in place of the injured Yu Darvish, went two innings and allowed five runs, giving the Los Angeles bullpen back-to-back long nights. Left-hander Tony Watson tossed a 1-2-3 fifth inning and earned the win.
From the beginning, the Dodgers gave Taillon fits. Chris Taylor started the game with an eight-pitch at-bat which ended with a sharp double. None of the next three balls in play _ all ground balls _ left the infield, but two were enough to move Taylor to third and score him from there.
In the second, the Dodgers delivered blow after blow, and Taillon hurt his own cause. After Yasiel Puig singled with one out, Taillon walked Adrian Gonzalez and Logan Forsythe. With Stewart, the pitcher, at bat, Taillon surely was hunting for a double-play ball. Instead, Stewart blooped a single to shallow left field, adding a run and reloading the bases.
Taylor bounced a two-run single through the left side of the infield, pushing the lead to 4-0. Los Angeles had the heart of the order approaching, poised to batter Taillon, but Corey Seager scorched a low line drive which Josh Bell snared and carried to first base for a double play.
The Pirates punched back in the third. Taillon, whose at-bats would bookend the inning, struck an infield single. Starling Marte followed with a two-run home run on an inside fastball, Marte's fourth homer in this suspension-shortened season. The rally was not over. Adam Frazier and Bell sandwiched walked around McCutchen's single to center, packing the bases with Pirates
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts lifted Stewart and asked for reliever Josh Ravin. He jumped ahead with two strikes on Josh Harrison, who then pulverized a 98 mph fastball. The baseball seemed destined for the seats until it sliced and smacked high off the Clemente Wall. Two runs scored on Harrison's double, and the go-ahead tally crossed when John Jaso grounded out.
The lead was short-lived. The Dodgers tied the score in the fourth without the benefit of a ball reaching the outfield. After two walks and a sacrifice bunt, Taylor hit an RBI single to shortstop.
Taillon tapped out after striking out Puig to end the fifth inning, the starter's only strikeout of the game. Manager Clint Hurdle then turned to his newest bullpen arms. Earlier in the day, the Pirates had placed Joaquin Benoit and George Kontos on the disabled list and optioned Dovydas Neverauskas to make room for Steven Brault, Johnny Barbato and Edgar Santana.
Barbato entered in the sixth and immediately played a part in history, as Gonzalez pulled a double down the right-field line for a double _ his 2,000th career hit. He tipped his helmet to the cheering crowd, looking toward the blue-and-white jerseys scattered in the stands behind the Dodgers dugout. A walk and a fielder's choice put runners on the corners. Seager's two-out line drive to right field pushed Los Angeles back in front, 6-5.
Insurance followed in the seventh. With Santana on in relief, Curtis Granderson drew a leadoff walk and Yasmani Grandal pounded a fastball over the outer edge of the plate into the visiting bullpen. The two-run shot was Grandal's 17th homer in 2017. It effectively put the game on ice.
