Los Angeles Dodgers’ Joc Pederson rounds third after hitting a two-run home run off Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Joe Musgrove during the second inning of a baseball game in Pittsburgh, Tuesday, June 5, 2018. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Los Angeles Dodgers’ Joc Pederson (31) celebrates with Matt Kemp, left, and Cody Bellinger (35) as he heads to the dugout after hitting a two-run home run off Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Joe Musgrove in the second inning of a baseball game in Pittsburgh, Tuesday, June 5, 2018. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
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PITTSBURGH, PA – JUNE 05: Joc Pederson #31 of the Los Angeles Dodgers celebrates with Matt Kemp #27 and Cody Bellinger #35 after hitting a two run home run in the second inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park on June 5, 2018 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)
Los Angeles Dodgers’ Joc Pederson (31) is greeted by manager Dave Roberts, bottom center, as he returns to the dugout after his two-run home run off Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Joe Musgrove in the second inning of a baseball game in Pittsburgh, Tuesday, June 5, 2018. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Ross Stripling delivers in the first inning of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates in Pittsburgh, Tuesday, June 5, 2018. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Joe Musgrove delivers during the first inning of the team’s baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Pittsburgh, Tuesday, June 5, 2018. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Los Angeles Dodgers’ Matt Kemp watches his RBI sacrifice fly off Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Joe Musgrove during the third inning of a baseball game in Pittsburgh, Tuesday, June 5, 2018. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
PITTSBURGH, PA – JUNE 05: Chris Taylor #3 of the Los Angeles Dodgers tags out Corey Dickerson #12 of the Pittsburgh Pirates stealing in the second inning at PNC Park on June 5, 2018 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)
Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Joe Musgrove delivers in the first inning of the team’s baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Pittsburgh, Tuesday, June 5, 2018. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
PITTSBURGH, PA – JUNE 05: Chris Taylor #3 of the Los Angeles Dodgers scores on a sacrifice fly in the third inning against the Pittsburgh Piratesat PNC Park on June 5, 2018 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)
PITTSBURGH, PA – JUNE 05: Chris Taylor #3 of the Los Angeles Dodgers slides into home plate umpire Jim Reynolds after scoring on a sacrifice fly in the third inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park on June 5, 2018 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)
Los Angeles Dodgers’ Chris Taylor sides into umpire Jim Reynolds (77) after scoring from third on a sacrifice by Matt Kemp in the third inning of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates in Pittsburgh, Tuesday, June 5, 2018. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
PITTSBURGH, PA – JUNE 05: Chris Taylor #3 of the Los Angeles Dodgers slides into home plate umpire Jim Reynolds after scoring on a sacrifice fly in the third inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park on June 5, 2018 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)
Los Angeles Dodgers’ Yasiel Puig rounds third after hitting a solo home run off Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Joe Musgrove during the fourth inning of a baseball game in Pittsburgh, Tuesday, June 5, 2018. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
PITTSBURGH, PA – JUNE 05: Yasiel Puig #66 of the Los Angeles Dodgers rounds third after hitting a home run in the fourth inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park on June 5, 2018 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)
Los Angeles Dodgers’ Cody Bellinger watches his solo home run off Pittsburgh Pirates relief pitcher Tyler Glasnow during the sixth inning of a baseball game in Pittsburgh, Tuesday, June 5, 2018. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Los Angeles Dodgers’ Cody Bellinger rounds first after hitting a solo home run off Pittsburgh Pirates relief pitcher Tyler Glasnow in the sixth inning of a baseball game in Pittsburgh, Tuesday, June 5, 2018. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
PITTSBURGH, PA – JUNE 05: Cody Bellinger #35 of the Los Angeles Dodgers rounds second after hitting a home run in the sixth inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park on June 5, 2018 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)
Los Angeles Dodgers’ Cody Bellinger, left, rounds third to greetings from third base coach Chris Woodward (45) after hitting a solo home run off Pittsburgh Pirates relief pitcher Tyler Glasnow, center rear, in the sixth inning of a baseball game in Pittsburgh, Tuesday, June 5, 2018. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Los Angeles Dodgers outfielders Joc Pederson, left, Yasiel Puig, right, and Enrique Hernandez, rear, celebrate after the final out of a 5-0 in over the Pittsburgh Pirates in a baseball game in Pittsburgh, Tuesday, June 5, 2018. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
PITTSBURGH, PA – JUNE 05: Yasiel Puig #66 of the Los Angeles Dodgers celebrates with teammates after defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-0 at PNC Park on June 5, 2018 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)
Ross Stripling’s five scoreless innings against the Pirates on Tuesday lowered his ERA for the season to 1.54 – including 1.06 in six starts since stepping into the Dodgers’ rotation full time in early May. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
PITTSBURGH — The Dodgers are a bunch of late boomers.
Through their first 42 games this season, the Dodgers gave up home runs at a faster clip (50) than they could hit them (39). Over their past 18 games, though, they have flipped the power dynamic, outhomering their opponents 29-13.
Joc Pederson, Yasiel Puig and Cody Bellinger each went deep Tuesday night – the fourth consecutive game the Dodgers have hit three home runs – and handed the Pittsburgh Pirates a 5-0 loss at PNC Park.
The win is the Dodgers’ 14th in their past 18 games and returned them to .500 (30-30) for the first time since April 24 (11-11) – an accomplishment that Dave Roberts joked he was celebrating with a wine bottle perched on his desk. The wine was actually the remnants of a dinner out for Roberts and his coaching staff on the night off Monday.
“We didn’t finish the job,” Roberts joked.
If the Dodgers haven’t finished their job either, the return to .500 represents a satisfying moment along the way.
“It does. It absolutely does,” Roberts said. “We’ve kind of stayed the course and kept playing and not let things we can’t control affect us.
“For us to get back to .500, we’re back in the mix. But now the goal is to keep playing good baseball.”
The power surge figures to be key to that.
Pederson hit just one home run in his first 53 games but has three in his past three – two Saturday in Colorado and a two-run homer in the second inning Tuesday off Pirates starter Joe Musgrove. It was the third home run Pederson hit in his first three plate appearances against Musgrove (the first two came in last fall’s World Series when the right-hander was pitching for the Houston Astros).
Puig had no home runs in his first 108 plate appearances but his solo homer in the fourth inning off Musgrove was his seventh in his last 66 plate appearances, part of a surge that has seen him bat .329 (23 for 70) in 23 games since returning from a brief trip to the DL.
The Dodgers’ final home run Tuesday was hit by Cody Bellinger, back in the lineup after Roberts benched him against a right-handed starting pitcher for the first time this season Sunday. Bellinger banged a long drive off the batter’s eye in straight-away center field for his ninth home run of the season – but only his sixth hit in his last 58 at-bats.
The return to outslugging opponents is a byproduct of “just being diligent in the strike zone,” Roberts said.
“Obviously the first month, month and a half, we didn’t hit the ball out of the ballpark, didn’t slug, didn’t take the walk,” Roberts said. “Now we’re just winning at-bats, winning pitches. You can see guys are aggressive but those home runs are coming in the middle of the count. That’s where good teams do damage. When we’re at our best – running pitch counts up, taking walks when we need to … yeah, the slug is there.”
The Dodgers’ best pitcher during this 18-game surge to get even has been Ross Stripling, Tuesday in Pittsburgh being just the most recent example.
The Pirates managed just four hits, all singles, during five scoreless innings by Stripling and didn’t get a runner past first base until the fifth inning. Even then, they needed help from the Dodgers – shortstop Chris Taylor dropped a throw while trying to turn a double play.
The Pirates loaded the bases that inning but Stripling navigated away from damage. Roberts pulled Stripling after that inning pushed his pitch count to 89.
“If anything, I maybe got away from the curveball today which I’ve been throwing so much,” Stripling said, attributing the change in his plan of attack to the scouting report on the Pirates’ hitters. “I threw more heaters. Just kind of trying to stay … where they can’t figure me out. Keep them on their toes.”
No one has figured out this revelatory incarnation of Stripling, who has become the unexpected Texan leading the Dodgers’ rotation.
The five scoreless innings lowered Stripling’s ERA for the season to 1.54 – including 1.06 in six starts since stepping into the rotation full time in early May. Stripling has allowed one or no earned runs in five of those six starts (and a whopping two earned runs in the other start). He has allowed just 28 hits and walked four while striking out 47 in 34 innings.
“I thought he was great,” Roberts said. “I think the thing with Ross is to be able to strike his secondary pitches and trust throwing his fastball in the zone. With that, he can command the fastball but when he needs a punchout in the strike zone he’s missing bats too.”
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