LOS ANGELES (AP) - Austin Barnes and pitcher Ross Stripling were the only options manager Dave Roberts had left on the Los Angeles Dodgers bench.
Believe it or not, Roberts had planned it that way.
Pinch hitter Barnes doubled with one out in the 10th inning, scoring pinch runner Stripling to lift the Dodgers over the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-3 on Tuesday night.
“I knew I hit it in the gap pretty well,” Barnes said. “I know Ross is fast, but being on the bases for a pitcher is not the most comfortable thing in the world, so thankfully he’s pretty fast and he got around the bases.”
Roberts told Stripling at 3 p.m. Tuesday that he might be used on the bases.
“It’s like he knew something was coming,” Stripling said.
Barnes lined the first pitch he saw from Daniel Hudson (0-2) into the gap in right-center field. Stripling scored from first after running for Yasmani Grandal, who led off the 10th with a single.
“What I thought, honestly, was that it was hit right to the right fielder, and I was trying to go first to third,” Stripling said. “I would say about halfway between second and third, I pick up (the third-base coach) and he tells me to go home, and I keep chugging. I think everybody thinks I missed third, but I knew I hit it.”
Los Angeles starter Julio Urias lost a no-hit bid when Andrew McCutchen doubled leading off the seventh inning.
Urias pitched a career-high 6 1/3 innings, allowing a run, one hit and two walks with five strikeouts. He threw 95 pitches.
The Dodgers won their fourth straight despite stranding 12 baserunners. Los Angeles tied it in the ninth on Cody Bellinger’s RBI single and might have won the game then if not for a stellar double-play turn by Jordy Mercer on Joc Pederson’s grounder. Pitcher Tony Watson fielded and bounced a throw well wide of second base, but Mercer scooped it while keeping a foot on the bag and completed the double play.
Kenley Jansen (2-0) earned the win with a scoreless 10th inning.
John Jaso hit a pinch-homer to give the Pirates a 3-2 lead with one out in the eighth inning, drilling an 0-1 pitch from reliever Pedro Baez into the Pirates bullpen in right field.
Urias, making his third start of the season and 18th of his career, retired Gregory Polanco on a fly ball to right after McCutchen’s double, then left the game. The 20-year-old left-hander struck out five and allowed only three batters to reach base, two with walks and a third when he misplayed Josh Harrison’s soft grounder to the left of the mound.
“His changeup was a very effective pitch,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. “Very good command of his changeup tonight. He threw to both sides of the plate, for a 20-year-old kid, that’s impressive.”
The Pirates scored two runs in the seventh. Francisco Cervelli drove a ball to left field that Enrique Hernandez misplayed into an RBI double. Max Moroff then pinch-hit and flared a single into shallow left, giving him his first major league hit and RBI.
Grandal gave the Dodgers a 2-0 lead with one out in the fourth, hitting a 2-0 pitch from starter Ivan Nova high and deep into the center field bleachers for his fourth homer of the season.
Grandal’s shot came one out after Nova walked Bellinger to lead off the fourth inning for his second walk of the game. The two walks ended Nova’s streak of 17 consecutive starts with one or no walks, dating to Aug. 6, 2016 - his first start with Pittsburgh following a trade from the New York Yankees.
Nova’s streak was the longest such run since Clayton Kershaw went 18 starts from Sept. 24, 2015, through June 20, 2016.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Pirates: 3B David Freese took batting practice and fielded groundballs prior to the game. The Pirates are not expecting Freese to make any rehab starts before he returns to the lineup. … INF Adam Frazier got the day off after going 1 for 3 with a walk, a double and an RBI in his first rehab start with Triple-A Indianapolis on Monday night.
Dodgers: 1B Adrian Gonzalez, placed on the DL on Friday with right elbow soreness, will be sidelined for as much time as it takes for him to return to 100 percent, manager Dave Roberts said. … Hot-hitting Chris Taylor will get a day off Wednesday, with Chase Utley getting the start at second base, Roberts said. … The Dodgers claimed LHP Justin Marks from the Tampa Bay Rays. Marks appeared in one game for the Rays after going 4-1 with a 4.60 ERA for Triple-A Durham. To make room for Marks, the Dodgers moved Andre Ethier to the 60-day disabled list.
PUNCH OUT
The Dodgers celebrated Mexican Heritage Night with featherweight champion boxer Leo Santa Cruz, a four-time world champion in three weight classes, throwing out the first pitch.
UP NEXT
Pirates: RHP Chad Kuhl makes his seventh start of the season, his first since going three scoreless innings before a two-hour rain delay ended his outing Friday in Milwaukee. The 24-year-old has held opponents to two runs or fewer in five of his first six starts.
Dodgers: RHP Kenta Maeda (2-2, 5.81) takes the mound coming off a pair of solid outings, holding opponents to three earned runs and eight hits in 12 innings. He had eight strikeouts in each start.
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