Dodgers get past Pirates to halt 3-game losing streak

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Teoscar Hernández lined a tiebreaking homer to left field to lead off the eighth inning, Shohei Ohtani fell a homer short of the cycle, and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 8-4 on Saturday night to snap a three-game skid.

After Hernández took Colin Holderman (0-1) deep, pinch-hitter Kiké Hernández followed with a three-run home run against Joey Wentz, the eighth pinch homer of his career.

The Pirates went ahead on 4-3 in the seventh on Bryan Reynolds' RBI grounder. The Dodgers tied it in the bottom half on Ohtani's run-scoring double. Kirby Yates (1-0) worked a scoreless eighth.

Oneil Cruz smacked Dodgers right-hander Roki Sasaki’s first pitch of the game over the center-field wall for his eighth homer of the season.

In the bottom of the first, Ohtani doubled, Teoscar Hernández drove him in with a two-bagger and and Pirates second baseman Adam Frazier threw away Edman’s grounder for an error, allowing Hernández to score.

Pittsburgh went ahead 3-2 in the fifth on Cruz's 111 mph RBI single.

Ohtani hit a one-out triple to right in the bottom of the sixth and scored on Freddie Freeman’s two-out single.

Key moment

With runners on second and third and two outs in seventh, Dodgers first baseman Freeman made a backhand diving stop of Emmanuel Valdez’s grounder and threw from his knees to reliever Evan Phillips for the out.

Key stat

Ohtani, whose wife, Mamiko Tanaka, gave birth to a girl on April 19, had been 2 for 16 with six strikeouts during his first four games back from paternity leave before breaking out of the slump Saturday night.

Up next

Right-hander Tyler Glasnow (1-0, 3.71 ERA) will start the series finale for the Dodgers. Left-hander Bailey Falter (1-2, 5.19 ERA) will pitch for the Pirates.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb