Pinch-hitter Jason Heyward broke a tie in the eighth inning with a three-run home run, leading the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 6-3 win over the struggling Seattle Mariners on Tuesday night.
Facing All-Star closer Andrés Muñoz, Heyward hit a high 99 mph fastball over the short wall in the right-field corner, giving the Dodgers their first lead of the game. It was Heyward’s second pinch-hit homer of the season and the third of his career.
The Dodgers’ rally began when Will Smith was hit by a pitch with one out, followed by a walk to Max Muncy. Tommy Edman then struck out, setting the stage for Heyward’s decisive hit.
Muncy and Gavin Lux also homered for the second straight game, as the NL West-leading Dodgers secured their third consecutive win and fourth in their last five games.
Joe Kelly (1-0) pitched a scoreless eighth inning to earn the win, and Daniel Hudson closed the game with a perfect ninth for his 10th save of the season.
Jorge Polanco had two hits and drove in all three Mariners’ runs, but the team has now lost the first two games of the series and seven of their last eight on the road.
Mookie Betts tied the game at 3 in the seventh inning with an RBI double down the left-field line off Muñoz, who entered the game with a 1.35 ERA. Betts attempted to score the go-ahead run on a single by Teoscar Hernández but was thrown out at home by right fielder Mitch Haniger.
The Mariners’ Bryce Miller saw his scoreless streak end at 16 innings when Lux led off the fourth with a home run that barely escaped the glove of center fielder Victor Robles. Later in the inning, Muncy hit a high fastball into the Mariners’ bullpen, narrowing the deficit to one run. Muncy has homered in both games since returning from an oblique injury that sidelined him for over a month.
Walker Buehler, starting for the Dodgers, allowed three runs and seven hits over four innings. Since returning from the injured list, he has given up seven runs (six earned) in 7 1/3 innings across two starts. Buehler, a two-time All-Star, had been out nearly two months due to right hip inflammation. He is 1-4 with a 6.09 ERA in 10 starts this season.
In the Mariners’ lineup, Haniger returned after missing two games due to a quad injury. For the Dodgers, RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto is set to pitch a simulated game on Wednesday, while RHP Blake Treinen may be activated depending on bullpen depth.
Looking ahead, Mariners’ RHP Logan Gilbert (7-9, 2.96 ERA) will lead the AL in quality starts as he takes the mound. The Dodgers will counter with RHP Jack Flaherty (9-5, 3.06), who is 2-0 since being acquired from Detroit in late July.
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