Mookie Betts hit a leadoff home run and rookie Emmet Sheehan went six strong innings as the Los Angeles Dodgers got the best of the visiting Houston Astros 3-2 on Friday in the opener of a three-game series.
Rookie Michael Busch had an RBI double for the Dodgers in a matchup between 2017 World Series participants. The Astros won the title in seven games that year before their championship came under a cloud after a cheating scandal was exposed.
James Outman had three hits and Sheehan (1-0) gave up two runs on three hits with four strikeouts and two walks en route to his first major league win. Los Angeles extended its winning streak to three games and improved to 7-5 against the Astros since the World Series defeat.
Mauricio Dubon and Kyle Tucker hit back-to-back home runs in the fourth inning for the Astros, who lost for the sixth time in their past eight games.
Astros rookie right-hander J.P. France (2-3) gave up three runs on eight hits over six innings. He fanned four and walked two. France was making his ninth career start, and he has gone at least six innings in each of the past five.
Betts hit France’s third pitch of the game over the wall in left field for his 18th home run of the season. It was also Betts’ 43rd career leadoff home run and his major-league-leading seventh this season.
Betts did the damage again in the second inning, when his sacrifice fly to center field scored Outman for a 2-0 advantage.
The Astros got even in the fourth inning when Dubon hit a home run to left field, his fourth, and Tucker followed two pitches later with a blast to right, his 10th. The runs were the first allowed by Sheehan (1-0) after he threw six hitless innings against the San Francisco Giants in his debut on June 16.
The runs also were the first allowed by the Dodgers after a 24-inning scoreless streak that included consecutive shutout victories over the Los Angeles Angels.
Right-hander Brusdar Graterol pitched the ninth inning for the Dodgers to earn his fourth save, matching his career-best total from last season.
–Field Level Media
