Dodgers 8, Astros 3: Lineup scores early and often behind the middle of the order for once

Chad Moriyama 05/04/2026 Game Recaps Leave A Comment

Kicking off another road series against the hated Astros, the Dodgers got things off to a great start for once with an easy win. They shockingly backed Yoshinobu Yamamoto for once, who labored through the 1st inning again but put it in cruise control afterward in an 8-3 victory.

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Let’s start with Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who had another start where the results mostly didn’t look as good as he did on the mound.

He gave up a single and walk with one-out in the 1st, but then got a strikeout to put him on the verge of escaping that mini-jam. Unfortunately, Jose Altuve then got a blooper off the end of his bat for a single to plate a run, and Yamamoto threw a “wild pitch” that Will Smith just whiffed on for another. Two runs from … not much.

Once again, Yamamoto settled after the wild pitch, facing the minimum over the next 11 batters as he saw single in the 3rd erased by a double play. That was broken up by a Zach Cole homer on a hanging cutter to make it three runs surrendered.

Yamamoto bounced back again with a pair of strikeouts, and then worked around a one-out single in the 6th to complete a quality start: 6 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 8 K, 95 Pitches.

He deserved a bit better, but really he was able to pitch relaxed and wasn’t pushed due to the Dodgers having … a comfortable lead?!

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Yes, the Astros pitching staff came to the rescue of the lineup.

Steven Okert played opener for the Astros, getting the first two outs of the 1st but then giving up singles to both Will Smith and Teoscar Hernandez, then a run-scoring bloop single to Kyle Tucker for a run.

After a walk followed to load the bases, he was done for the day and Ryan Weiss took over to get a strikeout that helped them navigate that traffic.

There was no such luck in the 2nd, as Alex Freeland hit a bloop homer (if that’s possible) into the porch in left for a real life Dodgers home run (his second).

After Shohei Ohtani walked, Will Smith later hit a two-out double off a glove at the wall in left to score Shohei.

The Dodgers had the lead for good at that point, and Kyle Tucker added on by lining his fourth dinger over the wall to start the 3rd.

That was their big inning, as a one-out single from Andy Pages was followed by a Hyeseong Kim single and an Alex Freeland walk to load things up. Shohei then had a shitty at-bat but avoided a double play for a run, and then Freddie Freeman singled that plated two thanks to an error. Seven runs? In this economy?

After getting just a walk in the 4th, the Dodgers got back to scoring in the 5th. A one-out single from Freeland was followed by an Ohtani walk, and Freeman singled again to make it 8-3.

That was it for Weiss, and also for the Dodger bats, as they seemed to put it into cruise control for the rest of the game against the other Astros pen arms.

They got just a single and double over the final four frames.

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No matter, as with a five-run lead, the pen made it a boring game.

Kyle Hurt issued a lead-off walk in the 7th but got the next three (including a pair of strikeouts) for a clean frame. Blake Treinen hit a batter in the 8th but also struck out the side, and Jack Dreyer then closed it out in the 9th while only giving up a single.

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22-13, almost a winning streak.

The two teams will get back to it tomorrow on TBS at 2:10 PM HT/5:10 PM PT/8:10 PM ET with Shohei Ohtani on the bump against Peter Lambert.

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