Houston Astros vs Los Angeles Dodgers Box Score on Sep 12, 2020

Six consecutive Houston Astros batters reached base to open the ninth inning, starting a five-run uprising that led to a 7-5 victory over the host Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday in the opener of a brief two-game series.

Yuli Gurriel drove in three runs for the Astros, who arrived at Dodger Stadium on Saturday afternoon greeted by angry Dodgers fans holding signs and banging trash cans as a reaction to Houston's 2017 cheating scandal. The Astros won the 2017 World Series in seven games over the Dodgers.

Trailing 5-2 and heading into the ninth inning against Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen, the Astros got singles from Carlos Correa and Aledmys Diaz before Josh Reddick hit a two-run double to bring Houston within a run.

Martin Maldonado singled to put runners on the corners before Houston made it 5-5 when Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy was unable to field George Springer's hot smash. The Astros took a 6-5 lead on a single by Alex Bregman and Jansen (3-1) was replaced by Adam Kolarek.

Houston added one more run in the ninth on a sacrifice fly from Gurriel. Josh James (1-0) did not allow a run over 1 1/3 innings to pick up the victory, while Ryan Pressley earned his ninth save.

Chris Taylor and Enrique Hernandez hit home runs on consecutive pitches in the second inning for the Dodgers and starter Julio Urias gave up one run on three hits over six innings with four walks and three strikeouts in his first career appearance against Houston.

Astros starter Framber Valdez gave up five runs on five hits over five innings, giving him 13 earned runs allowed over his last two outings after entering September with a 2.35 ERA.

Gurriel gave the Astros a 1-0 lead four batters into the game, but that advantage was wiped away in the second when Taylor hit his fourth home run of the season, a two-run shot, and Hernandez followed with his fifth. Both came on line drives to the opposite field in right.

The Dodgers made it 4-1 in the third inning on a sacrifice fly by AJ Pollock and then 5-1 in the fifth on a Corey Seager RBI single. Gurriel drove in his second run on a force out in the eighth.

The Astros won for the first time in three tries against the Dodgers this season with the final regular-season game between the teams Sunday night.

--Field Level Media