Major League Baseball

Dodgers, Astros trending in different directions as Houston narrowly avoids sweep

Updated Jun. 26, 2023 12:51 p.m. ET

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Rowan Kavner

MLB Writer

LOS ANGELES — Three years ago, the wounds were fresh and the disdain still palpable between the Dodgers and Astros as Joe Kelly airmailed a series of pitches, prompting benches to clear in the first meeting between the clubs after Houston’s sign-stealing scandal came to light. 

On Friday, Astros manager Dusty Baker expressed hope that time could heal all wounds. 

Over the past six years, most of the prominent figures from the controversial 2017 World Series clash have moved on, either physically or mentally. Only three Dodgers players remain from that team. Even as the memories of a tainted postseason were brought back to the forefront earlier this week when commissioner Rob Manfred expressed regret about his decision to give Astros players immunity, Dave Roberts indicated no desire to rehash the past. 

"There’s only probably a handful of people that are still kind of holdovers, so it doesn’t affect us," the Dodgers manager said. 

He downplayed any residual contempt, claiming he had moved on. There were, after all, more pressing matters to attend to, with both perennial powerhouses entering the series in an unfamiliar place, looking to make up ground in their respective divisions. The effort to erase a dismal start to June transcended any lingering bad blood. 

"We’re just trying to win a ballgame against a good ballclub," Roberts said. 

The Dodgers did that two of three times, coming an extra-inning defeat away from sweeping the Astros, as the two teams depart Los Angeles trending in different directions. 

A second straight comeback effort Sunday night from the Dodgers magnified both teams’ atypical lack of pitching depth, made tougher by a bevy of injuries. 

The Astros continue to try to find lanes for Rafael Montero, hoping to get the reliever on track after signing him to a three-year, $34.5 million contract this offseason. Nursing a three-run lead, Montero recorded the first two outs of the eighth inning before plunking Mookie Betts, who led off two of the three games this weekend with a home run. That set the scene for Freddie Freeman to lace career hit No. 2,000 on an RBI double over the outstretched arm of right fielder Kyle Tucker. 

Freeman had been stuck on hit No. 1,998 all weekend. His oldest son, Charlie, kept reminding him. Freeman had one last day to accomplish the feat at home, in front of his family before the Dodgers hit the road. He recorded hit No. 1,999 in the sixth inning and the milestone mark two innings later. 

Upon recording the knock, and becoming the sixth active major-leaguer to reach the 2,000-hit plateau and the 98th player in MLB history to record 2,000 hits and 300 home runs, Freeman removed his helmet and lifted it toward a crowd of 47,273 fans chanting his first name.

"I seem to get these milestones in losses," Freeman said, a month after launching his 300th home run in a 16-8 defeat in St. Louis. "That’s what Doc said in the little speech after — it’s a little curse. But just seeing how happy my dad, my stepmom, my wife, my kids were for me just makes it special, and the fans have embraced my family and I since the day I got here. So, they made another special memory for the Freeman family." 

It was, of course, not their only chant of the night. 

As Dodgers players and coaches attempt to move on from the past, their fans aren’t quite as willing, as evidenced by the chorus of boos and shouts of "chea-ter" that still greet José Altuve and Alex Bregman every time they step into the box. 

Bregman didn’t let it bother him, hitting a grand slam Saturday and knocking in another run Sunday. The production was vital for an Astros offense trying to find its way without the injured Yordan Álvarez. But the leads he helped build kept disappearing. 

After scoring five unanswered runs against the Astros bullpen in Saturday’s 8-7 comeback win, the Dodgers went to work erasing a 4-1 deficit against the Houston bullpen on Sunday. Following Freeman’s milestone hit, Will Smith tagged Montero for a game-tying two-run homer. It was Montero’s third straight outing allowing multiple runs. 

The blast, and the subsequent pitching change, allowed the crowd to serenade Freeman further with a curtain call in the dugout. 

"Dodger fans never disappoint," Freeman said. "It’s a special day, one I’ll never forget."

While Montero’s struggles prevented starter Hunter Brown from obtaining the win, it was the capricious nature of the Dodgers’ own pitching staff that put them in chase mode early. They have failed to get consistency out of their starters beyond Clayton Kershaw, who’s also the only member of the rotation to make each of his scheduled starts this year. 

Tony Gonsolin — the lone veteran starter for either team this weekend — lasted just five innings and 61 pitches on Sunday. Roberts had decided that was enough. Coming off a seven-run struggle his last time out, Gonsolin’s velocity was down again as he failed to miss bats while surrendering four runs. 

"I have all the confidence in the world that the next one, you’re gonna see more of what we’re expecting from him," Roberts said. 

Still, on Sunday, Roberts felt more confident going to a maligned Dodgers bullpen that might have started to turn a corner. Dodgers relievers had allowed just one run over their past five games entering Sunday, when Caleb Ferguson, Ryan Brasier, Nick Robertson and Evan Phillips combined to hold the mercurial Astros offense scoreless from the fifth through the ninth. 

In extras, though, the Dodgers bullpen took the loss, unable to prevent the automatic runners from coming home. A baserunning mistake from Corey Julks limited the Astros to one run in the 10th inning, but they tacked on another in the 11th, which was enough to salvage the series as the interleague rivals faced off for the first time in two years. 

The Astros depart Los Angeles having dropped seven of their past 10 games. The Dodgers, meanwhile, hit the road in a much better place than they were in last weekend, having won four of five games after getting swept at home by the Giants. 

"I feel we’ve got some momentum," Roberts said. "We’ve got Clayton going on Tuesday and feel good about that."

Rowan Kavner covers the Dodgers and NL West for FOX Sports. He previously was the Dodgers’ editor of digital and print publications. Follow him on Twitter at @RowanKavner. 

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