LOS ANGELES (AP) – J D Martinez and David Peralta homered back-to-back in the fifth inning, helping the Los Angeles Dodgers rally from a four-run deficit to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-4 on Wednesday night.
Martinez connected on an 0-2 pitch from reliever Roansy Contreras (3-7) for his 20th homer, a go-ahead, three-run shot to left-center that scored Will Smith and Max Muncy, who drew consecutive walks.
“Will and Munce had really good at-bats and found a way to get on,” Martinez said. “I feel like I’ve been kind of unlucky lately, just missing balls at the fence.”
Peralta followed with a 406-foot solo shot to the lower right-field seats for a 6-4 lead.
Contreras and Pirates starter Osvaldo Bido combined on four walks over the fourth and fifth.
Both were called for pitch-clock violations: Bido in the second and Contreras in the fifth.
The Dodgers’ struggling bullpen turned back two bases-loaded jams over the final three innings.
“It’s big,” Martinez said. “We need those guys. That’s one of the huge pieces for us to be able to lock up huge situations for us.”
Pittsburgh threatened in the ninth, loading the bases with no outs against Daniel Hudson.
Pinch-hitter Connor Joe opened with a ground-rule double, then Hudson walked Andrew McCutchen and Bryan Reynolds back-to-back. Henry Davis struck out and Carlos Santana flied out before Jack Suwinski struck out swinging to end the game.
Hudson earned his first save in 13 months. He returned to the team last week after tearing his left anterior cruciate ligament on June 24, 2022, against Atlanta.
“It’s just good to have him back and stabilise us,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “It certainly adds another leverage guy.”
Leading 6-4, the Dodgers eked out of a bases-loaded jam in the seventh. Jared Triolo singled off Phil Bickford, who then walked Austin Hedges and McCutchen. Ryan Brasier came in, and backed by solid defence, got three straight outs to end the inning. Reynolds lined out to short on a stellar catch by Miguel Rojas, Davis lined into Mookie Betts’ glove at second and Santana popped out to third.
The Dodgers got on the board with two runs in the fourth. Jason Heyward had a bases-loaded sacrifice fly that scored Muncy, who walked, and Rojas added a RBI single.
Reynolds had a solo homer off Dodgers starter Bobby Miller (5-1) in the first. The Pirates extended the lead to 4-0 on Suwinski’s three-run blast in the fourth.
Miller allowed four runs and five hits in 5 2/3 innings. The right-hander struck out seven and walked one.
