PITTSBURGH -- All the Dodgers needed was to get Pirates ace Paul Skenes out of the game.
After being held to two runs in six innings by the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner, the Dodgers scored 10 runs in the seventh inning to decisively break a 2-2 tie and roll to a 12-3 victory on Tuesday night in the opener of a three-game series at PNC Park.
The Dodgers had not scored that many runs in an inning since June 2, 2021, when they dropped an 11-spot on the Nationals.
The big seventh inning also included first baseman Freddie Freeman’s 2,500th career hit. The milestone came on an RBI single to center field off rookie Brandan Bidois that capped the scoring.
The Dodgers sent 15 batters to the plate and forced three Pirates relievers to throw 68 pitches during the 39-minute half-inning.
“I think our guys were just very patient in that inning,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “You could see those pitchers coming in there, and they were having a hard time throwing strikes, and we were just taking what we could get and weren’t trying to force the issue. We had some good takes, took some walks and threw a couple of big hits in there.”
The first run in the inning came when Dalton Rushing scored on catcher Henry Davis’ throwing error. Davis hit Rushing in the back while trying to pick him off third base.
Shohei Ohtani then hit an RBI double and scored on Andy Pages’ 15th home run as the Dodgers pushed their lead to 5-2. A throwing error by second baseman Brandon Lowe let in a run, Ryan Ward hit an RBI single, Alex Freeland and Ohtani drew consecutive bases-loaded walks and Pages lofted a sacrifice fly before Freeman made it 12-2.
The runs piled up so quickly that Freeman’s milestone was almost overlooked in the moment. However, Los Angeles held a champagne toast to Freeman in the clubhouse after the game.
“It was a fun inning,” Freeman said. “We just kept the line moving.”
The National League West-leading Dodgers won for the fifth time in seven games and are 19-6 in their past 25 games.
Dodgers left-hander Eric Lauer shook off a rough first inning and wound up allowing just two runs and three hits in 5 2/3 frames, though he did not factor in the decision. Lauer struck out five, walked none and threw 64 of 89 pitches for strikes. He has a 2.76 ERA over his past three starts.
The Pirates struck quickly against Lauer, when Bryan Reynolds and Ryan O’Hearn hit back-to-back home runs in the first inning to open the scoring.
However, Lauer settled in and allowed just one more baserunner as Jared Triolo hit a two-out bloop single in the second inning. Lauer then retired the last 12 batters he faced before being lifted with two outs in the sixth inning.
“I just had to calm myself down and refocus after the home runs,” Lauer said. “All I could do was focus on the rest of the game, and I felt I was pretty efficient after that. I was happy that I was able to settle in and keep us in the game.”
Los Angeles scored twice off Skenes. Kyle Tucker hit a sacrifice fly in the second inning and Max Muncy singled in a sixth-inning run to tie the score at 2-2.
Muncy went 3-for-3 with a walk, while Pages had three RBIs. Freeman, Freeland and Mookie Betts had two hits apiece. Will Klein (2-2) got the win as he retired all four batters after replacing Lauer, striking out three.