PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Los Angeles Dodgers added two more players to the disabled list Tuesday: 14-game winner Alex Wood and rookie of the year candidate Cody Bellinger.
It didn’t seem to slow them down at all.
Neither could a short outing from starting pitcher Brock Stewart, as the Dodgers’ offense and bullpen more than picked up the slack in an 8-5 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday night.
Chris Taylor had three of the Dodgers’ 10 hits and he drove in three runs and Yasmani Grandal hit a two-run home run.
Corey Seager drove in the winning run in the sixth, knocking in Adrian Gonzalez, who had led off the inning with a double off Johnny Barbato (0-1). The hit was Gonzalez’s 2,000th of his career.
The Dodgers also took advantage of a career-high five walks from Pirates starter Jameson Taillon. Taillon gave up five hits and five runs in his five innings of work.
“Those guys are just good hitters,” Taillon said. “I felt like I made some good pitches. Anything close to the zone, if it wasn’t their pitch, they were spitting on it. I was a couple balls off, but they were close pitches and they just took them.”
Stewart started for the Dodgers but lasted just two-plus innings. He allowed five runs, including a two-run home run by Starling Marte and a bases-loaded double by Josh Harrison.
After Stewart, the Los Angeles bullpen combined for seven scoreless innings. Former Pirates reliever Tony Watson (7-4) picked up the win with a 1-2-3 fifth inning. Watson is 2-0 since joining the Dodgers. Josh Ravin and Tony Cingrani each pitched two innings. Josh Fields pitched the eighth to get to Kenley Jansen, who struck out the side in the ninth for his 34th save.
“They did a great job,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “Watson, I think that was the best inning he’s thrown with us. Obviously, you get Ravin just getting here, pitched a day ago and what he did was getting out of that and giving us an inning-plus was huge. Fields and Kenley. The story of the night, obviously, was the bullpen.”
The win over the Pirates secured the Dodgers at least a split of the four-game series, their 22nd consecutive series without suffering a loss. They have won 23 of their last 27 games and that’s with Bellinger and Wood joining the likes of Yu Darvish and Clayton Kershaw among the 12 players on the disabled list. They have also won all five matchups against the Pirates so far this season.
“When you win as many games as they have, you look a little taller. You walk a little taller,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. “When you can have Adrian Gonzalez at seventh in your lineup, it pretty much sums it up for me.”
MAKING MOVES
Both teams reshuffled their pitching staffs after a 12-inning game on Monday. The Dodgers recalled Ravin and Stewart from Triple-A Oklahoma City. The Pirates brought up Barbato, Edgar Santana and Steven Brault from Triple-A Indianapolis.
TRAINING ROOM
Dodgers: Bellinger (right ankle sprain) was hurt in a play at the outfield wall in Detroit on Saturday. He took swings Tuesday, but did not improve quickly enough. .Wood (left sternoclavicular joint inflammation) complained of discomfort after throwing six innings against Pittsburgh on Monday. . RHP Brandon McCarthy (finger blister) is close to making a rehab appearance. He hasn’t pitched since July 20.
Pirates: RHP George Kontos (right groin strain) and RHP Joaquin Benoit (left knee inflammation) were both placed on the 10-day disabled list. Kontos’ move is retroactive to Sunday.
UP NEXT
Dodgers: Rich Hill (9-4, 3.54 ERA) will pitch Wednesday. He’s coming off a short outing, when he allowed three runs in five innings against Detroit on Friday.
Pirates: Trevor Williams (5-6, 4.71 ERA) will face the Dodgers for the second time in his career. He gave up six runs and lasted just three innings against them on May 5.
