Dodgers fall in seesaw battle with Pirates

LOS ANGELES ― The game found Mookie Betts again and again. Again and again, he rose to the occasion. By the time it was over, he had broken a franchise record held by Jackie Robinson and needed only a triple to hit for the cycle.

Betts did all he could. The Dodgers still lost a seesaw battle to the Pittsburgh Pirates, 6-5, before an announced crowd of 46,724 at Dodger Stadium.

The Dodgers’ right fielder nearly threw out a runner at home plate in the top of the ninth inning. In the bottom of the ninth, Betts hit a double that bounced off the warning track and over the fence in right-center field. That hit broke Robinson’s record of 22 extra-base hits in the month of May. It also extended the inning for the heart of the Dodgers’ lineup.

Freddie Freeman drew a walk. Trea Turner flew out to right field for the second out of the inning. Will Smith swung and missed at a split-fingered fastball from David Bednar, ending a seven-pitch at-bat ― and the game ― as Betts was stranded on second base.

“I don’t know if we should expect that every single night,” Freeman said of Betts’ 3 for 4 performance. “He’s been doing it every single night for a long time. It’s special to watch. He’s been doing it his whole career, so it isn’t anything new to us.”

Losing to the Pittsburgh Pirates at home is new. Before Monday, it hadn’t happened since August 14, 2016.

Craig Kimbrel (0-1) blew his first save as a Dodger, inheriting a 5-4 lead before allowing two runs in the ninth inning. A rare error by Freeman didn’t help.

The Dodgers were trailing 4-3 in the eighth when Trea Turner led off with a line drive to left field. While most would have been content with a single, Turner rounded first base and found an extra gear. The double extended his hitting streak to 22 games.

The next batter, Smith, hit a fly ball to deep right field, allowing Turner to tag up and go to third. Bednar struck out Edwin Rios for the second out, then got ahead of Justin Turner 0-and-2.

Bednar, however, made the critical mistake of throwing three consecutive fastballs in roughly the same place. Turner connected on the third, rocketing a double to left-center and scoring Trea Turner with the game-tying run.

The next batter, Chris Taylor, got under a fastball down the middle of the plate. Nobody could get under his pop-up as three fielders converged in shallow right field. Turner, who was running from second base on contact, scored on Taylor’s single. The Dodgers led 5-4.

Manager Dave Roberts summoned Kimbrel to pitch the ninth inning, but the lead was not safe. Kimbrel walked Diego Castillo. A wild pitch moved Castillo to second base.

The next batter, Michael Perez, lined a single to right field and Betts came up throwing as Castillo attempted to score. The throw was on line. Castillo, however, was a hair too fast, eluding Smith’s tag as he slid toward the foul-territory side of home plate. The game was tied 5-5.

Michael Chavis pinch ran for Perez, then scored from second base when Freeman allowed a routine ground ball to glance off his glove into right field. The error gave the Pirates a 6-5 lead. Freeman said the ball didn’t take a tricky hop, or spin off line.

“I just missed it,” he said. “There’s nothing really to explain. Craig made the pitches to get us out of that inning in a tie ballgame, and I didn’t make the play.”

For all his success converting saves, Kimbrel has struggled of late. He allowed a run Sunday in Arizona, and two runs in his previous outing ― a non-save situation Friday against the Diamondbacks.

Now, with three appearances in a four-day span, he isn’t certain to be available for Tuesday’s rematch against the Pirates.

“It’s just missed locations,” he said. “Sometimes you can throw a strike and it’s not necessarily where you want it. I’ve yanked a couple fastballs that have given lefties some opportunities, and they’ve capitalized on them. I have to get back to making sure I’m not making those mistakes, just making my pitches, and good things will happen.”

Bednar (2-1) allowed two runs in the eighth inning, but stayed in to pitch the ninth inning, ultimately emerging with the victory.

Solo home runs by Betts, Hanser Alberto and Rios ignited the Dodgers’ comeback from an early 4-0 deficit.

Dodgers starter Walker Buehler threw six innings before handing the ball to Yency Almonte for the seventh and eighth. The Pirates did all their damage on a pair of home runs, leaving Buehler in a 4-0 hole after three innings.

Zach Thompson, the Pirates’ starter, shone in his Dodger Stadium debut. The 6-foot-7 right-hander faced only three batters above the minimum until there were two outs in the fifth inning. Alberto, who was a last-minute addition to the lineup, clubbed a home run over the left-center field fence to give the Dodgers a run.

Cody Bellinger was listed as the center fielder in the Dodgers’ original lineup, but was scratched with a left adductor strain. Kevin Pillar shifted from left field to center, Gavin Lux shifted from second base to left, and Alberto got the start at second. It was only his third start against a right-handed pitcher this season.

Betts, the next batter, hit his 15th home run of the season to left field, trimming the Pirates’ lead to 4-2.

Thompson was removed from the game in the sixth inning with Rios, a left-handed hitter, due up. Left-hander Dillon Thomas took over and promptly served up an opposite-field home run, Rios’ seventh this year. Rios has only 10 hits in his career against lefties, but five are home runs.

Buehler did not record a single swing and miss on his four-seam fastball. He compensated by throwing his other pitches more. But he could not avoid the four-seamer altogether. Of the seven times the Pirates put the pitch in play, two landed over the fence and another netted a single.

The first home run, by Tucupita Marcano, gave Pittsburgh a 3-0 lead in the second inning. It came at an inopportune time for the Dodgers, in the wake of a walk and a single. Buehler fell behind Marcano 2-and-0, before the diminutive Venezuelan pulled the ball over the fence in right-center field.

With one out in the third inning, Bryan Reynolds was gearing up for Buehler’s four-seamer. He got one on the first pitch and hit it to the same section of seats as Marcano. The Pirates led 4-0.

The scouting report on Buehler was already out ― opponents were hitting .367 against his four-seamer before Monday ― but his frustration was seldom visible. After the second inning ended Monday, Buehler threw his glove into the bat rack in the Dodgers’ dugout. After the third inning he flung the blue leather mitt, backhanded, into the Dodgers’ bench.

“He holds himself accountable, which is great from your number-1 starter,” Betts said of Buehler. “He’s really good. He may not have pitched that great today but … two home runs is all he really gave up. He kept us in the game.”

With 11 home runs in May, Betts has one day remaining to break Roy Campanella’s franchise record of 12 in the month. The Dodgers’ record for home runs in any month is 15, set by Duke Snider in August 1953 and tied by Pedro Guerrero in June 1983.

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