Astros 6, Dodgers 5: A comeback attempt falls short in extras as 4-game win streak ends

Chad Moriyama 06/25/2023 Game Recaps Leave A Comment

The Dodgers were unable to complete the sweep today against the Astros, snapping their four-game losing streak in a 6-5 loss.

After a pair of homers gave the Astros an early lead, the Dodgers offense was quieted the whole game, but they broke out in the 8th to tie things up in a flash before some untimely hitting and pen depth issues ultimately were their undoing.

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Hunter Brown and his great stuff was on the mound for the Astros, and he put his team in an immediate hole thanks to Mookie Betts smashing his 19th homer of the year. It was his second lead-off homer in three games, and the hat trick was only prevented by Corey Julks‘ robbery yesterday.

Unfortunately that didn’t last long, as after Tony Gonsolin cruised through the 1st, in the 2nd he issued a walk and then gave up a two-run homer to Jeremy Pena to make it 2-1 to the Astros.

After bouncing back for a bit in the 3rd, Gonsolin then surrendered a double and a Jose Abreu lined two-run homer to up their lead to 4-1.

Gonsolin then got a bit unlucky before getting lucky in the 5th. After an infield single that Michael Busch basically clanged at third, a stolen base put a runner in scoring position, but a bad read on the clean single that followed meant he didn’t score. And with one out and the runners cornered, Gonsolin got a double play to make sure no other damage happened.

Other concerns besides the line, though: 5 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 1 BB, 3 K, 61 Pitches

In the mean time, the Dodgers offense wasn’t having any success against Brown. After the lead-off homer, they got just two walks, a single, and a double over six innings against him.

Not great!

On the upside, the Dodgers pen kept rolling. Caleb Ferguson got a clean 6th, Ryan Brasier gave up a single and steal in the 7th but nothing else, and Nick Robertson also got a clean 8th thanks partially to Jason Heyward.

For a while it seemed like the Astros pen might do the same. After an easy 7th, Rafael Montero entered for the 8th and got two quick outs.

But the Dodgers get started with two outs, and after Montero hit Mookie, he stole second and Freddie Freeman cut into the lead with his 2000th hit, a double to right-center to make it 4-2.

That proved important immediately, as Will Smith seemed to inside-out a 96 mph fastball to center for a two-run game-tying homer, his 12th of the year to tie things up 4-4.

That was the end of Montero’s outing, and while a single and steal followed, they couldn’t push the go-ahead run across against the Astros pen.

With the game now well on the line, it was Evan Phillips in the 9th. After a comical strikeout, he gave up a single, but then got a fly out, and Will handed Chas McCormick his first caught stealing of the season to end the frame.

Unfortunately, the Dodgers couldn’t walk it off in the 9th against Ryan Pressly, and so we headed to extras.

Brusdar Graterol was summoned for the 10th, and he gave up a bloop double to right from Julks to give the Astros a 5-4 lead as the Manfred Runner scored. After a passed ball by Dills, it was a runner at third with nobody out, and a walk followed to deepen the trouble.

However, Julks then helped the Dodgers out with the worst thing he could’ve done on a safety squeeze, which is run into a double play. A fly out followed that hilarious showing, and the Dodgers were out of that mess trailing just by one run.

After his clean 9th, Pressly came back out for the 10th to try and lock the save down. Busch started by grounding out to second, requiring a nice play to get him and advancing the Manfred Runner to third. That was key as Mookie barely missed a walk-off homer on a sac fly to tie things up at 5-5.

The 11th was given to Yency Almonte (the two others left were Alex Vesia and Victor Gonzalez), and he immediately gave up a single to Alex Bregman that made it 6-5 as the Manfred Runner scored. No other damage but it proved to be the winner.

For the Dodgers, Smith started by seemingly tying the game with a single up the middle, but a diving stop by Mauricio Dubon meant an out and only a runner advancement.

Miguel Vargas then pinch-hit for pinch-runner Jonny Deluca, and struck out taking a huge hack when contact was needed, and David Peralta grounded out weakly to end the game.

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Boys.

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NL WESTRECORD
Diamondbacks47-32
Giants44-34 (2.5 GB)
Dodgers43-34 (3 GB)

*Either still playing or will play later.

The Dodgers will have yet another day off tomorrow before starting a streak of 12 games in a row before the All-Star Break. They’ll start a road trip at the dreaded Coors Field against the Rockies starting at 2:40 PM HT/5:40 PM PT/8:40 PM ET with Clayton Kershaw on the bump against Connor Seabold.

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