With Clayton Kershaw and Tyler Glasnow on the mound Saturday, a pitchers’ duel was expected. But the hitting took over, and Freddie Freeman provided a key RBI double and Miguel Vargas belted a home run that rallied the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 6-5 win over the Tampa Bay Rays in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Freeman, who extended his hitting streak to 16 games, put the Dodgers ahead to stay in the seventh inning. Vargas provided an insurance run with a homer in the eighth.
In the ninth inning, the Rays rallied off Caleb Ferguson. Taylor Walls doubled with one out, and with two outs, Yandy Diaz walked and Wander Franco floated an RBI single to center. With runners on the corners, Harold Ramirez grounded into a force out, and the Dodgers evened the weekend series at a win apiece.
Yency Almonte (3-0) picked up the win in relief, and Colin Poche (3-1) suffered the loss. Ferguson held on for his second save.
The game swung in the Dodgers favor in the seventh. Miguel Rojas singled and scored on Mookie Betts’ single. Freeman’s double put Los Angeles in front 5-4.
Kershaw was handed a three-run lead, but the Dodgers’ lefty saw that disappear on Manuel Margot’s two-run single in the fourth and Ramirez’s two-run homer in the fifth.
Kershaw struck out six and allowed four runs in five innings.
For the Rays, Glasnow made his season debut and struck out eight in 4 1/3 innings. But the 29-year-old gave up three runs in 4 1/3 innings.
Glasnow, who had Tommy John surgery in 2021, suffered a left oblique strain in spring training.
Max Muncy homered in the second inning, and in the fourth inning, he delivered an RBI double to score J.D. Martinez, who also had a two-base hit. Muncy scored in the inning on a wild pitch.
The Rays claimed the lead, 4-3, in the fifth inning when Franco singled and Ramirez belted a two-run home run. It was the Rays’ 100th homer of the season, which leads the majors. A year ago, Tampa Bay reached the century mark on Aug. 12.
–Field Level Media
