Andy Pages’ career-best three home runs and six RBIs carried the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers to a 12-2 victory over the Houston Astros on Wednesday.
Los Angeles starter Tyler Glasnow left after an inning with low back pain. Jack Dreyer (2-1) earned the win by throwing two scoreless frames. Six relievers combined to hurl eight innings of one-run, four-hit ball.
Shohei Ohtani posted two hits, two runs and an RBI for the Dodgers, who won their third game in four tries and took the three-game set.
Houston starter Lance McCullers Jr. (2-3) lasted just 2 2/3 innings, allowing six runs on four hits, striking out four and walking three. In relief, Jason Alexander yielded five runs on nine hits across 4 1/3 frames, striking out a pair and walking five.
Houston opened the scoring in the bottom of the first as Brice Matthews connected on his fourth homer of the year,a drive to left on Glasnow’s third pitch of the game.
After Kyle Tucker doubled and Dalton Rushing singled in the second, McCullers’ wild pitch evened the score.
Glasnow was then replaced by Dreyer after trying to pitch in the second.
Alex Freeland walked and Ohtani doubled to begin the third, before two more wild pitches from McCullers gave the Dodgers a 3-1 edge.
Following walks to Freddie Freeman and Tucker, Pages belted his sixth homer of the year to left to extend the lead to 6-1 and chase McCullers.
Freeman’s double in the fourth off Alexander pushed the margin to six.
Muncy laced a one-out single in the fifth before Pages hit his second homer, another shot to left, to give the Dodgers an 9-1 advantage. Later in the inning, Ohtani lined an RBI single.
Freeland’s single extended the lead to 11-1 in the seventh.
Against Blake Treinen, Zach Cole singled to cut the Astros’ deficit to nine.
First baseman Cesar Salazar pitched the ninth for Houston, allowing Pages’ third homer, a shot to left.
