HOUSTON – Not again. But almost.
Saturday night, rookie starter Justin Wrobleski took a shutout into the sixth inning. It was his first time pitching into the sixth inning in a major-league start and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts pulled him after 82 pitches with two outs and Yainer Diaz coming up for the Astros.
Even Roberts admitted afterward that the game turned on that decision. The Dodgers’ bullpen blew a five-run lead and they lost.
Change only a few of the details. Sunday afternoon, it was rookie starter River Ryan who took a shutout into the sixth inning. It was only his second time as a professional pitching into a sixth inning (both of his major-league starts) and he had already topped his career-high in pitches – with two outs and Diaz coming up.
Roberts did it again, pulling Ryan in favor of lefty reliever Alex Vesia – who promptly gave up a two-run home run to Diaz, making it a one-run game. This time, though, it stopped there. The Dodgers added more runs and the bullpen made this lead stand up for a 6-2 victory over the Houston Astros, avoiding a three-game sweep at Minute Maid Park.
In a matchup of rookie pitchers, neither Ryan nor Astros starter Spencer Arrighetti gave up a hit in the first four innings.
Arrighetti handcuffed the Dodgers, striking out seven of the first 11 batters he faced. James Outman broke through with a solo home run in the fifth and Gavin Lux went deep for a two-run homer in the top of the sixth, staking Ryan to a 3-0 lead.
He didn’t give up a hit until Jon Singleton’s leadoff double in the fifth. Ryan stranded him at third, getting Jake Meyers to ground out then striking out Victor Caratini and Joey Loperfido.
Before the game, Roberts acknowledged that Ryan would “have to have more leash (to go deeper in the game) because the (bullpen) coverage we don’t have going into today’s game.”
Stretching that coverage over the final four innings was going to be a challenge. When Ryan gave up another leadoff double in the sixth, the clock was ticking.
Roberts left him in long enough to face the most dangerous hitters in the Astros lineup a third time. After Jose Altuve’s double, Ryan Alex Bregman and Yordan Alvarez on fly balls to center field.
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That’s when Roberts decided to make the move and Vesia’s first pitch brought back too-fresh memories of Saturday’s meltdown. But Vesia retired the next four batters, getting the one-run lead to the eighth inning.
Teoscar Hernandez lined a ball into the Crawford Boxes on the first pitch of the eighth inning and the Dodgers added a little more daylight with an RBI single from Cavan Biggio in the eighth and a sacrifice fly from Jason Heyward in the ninth.
Joe Kelly gave up a double to Altuve but stranded him in the eighth. Brent Honeywell Jr. closed it out in the ninth, securing Ryan’s first major league win.