Dodgers roll Astros as Andy Pages rips 3 HRs but Tyler Glasnow injures back

HOUSTON — Some bullpen games are chosen. Others are thrust upon you.

Dodgers starter Tyler Glasnow was pulled from the game due to back pain while he was warming up for the second inning on Wednesday afternoon, leaving the rest to a relay of six pitchers, including Brock Stewart in his return from shoulder surgery.

That group held the Astros to one run on four hits the rest of the way while the Dodgers’ offense enjoyed a buffet-style feast against MLB’s most giving pitching staff in a 12-2 victory.

“I think we salvaged the road trip. And going into an off day feeling pretty good about ourselves,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “The at-bats, obviously, I thought today were very good. Andy (Pages) was certainly the highlight. And it was good to see guys like Shohei (Ohtani) swing the bat well.

“And the pitching, given the bullpen guys had to cover eight innings today on a moment’s notice, was good to see as well.”

Pages had the best day, hitting three home runs and driving in six runs.

But Ohtani had the most reassuring day. Hitless in his past 17 at-bats, he was limited to pitching Tuesday, sparking another round of debate over the value of having a two-way player if one way (pitching) detracts from the other (hitting).

Back at the top of the lineup on Wednesday, he struck out in his first at-bat, making it an 0-for-18 slump. But Ohtani doubled into the right-field corner in his next at-bat, drew a walk his next time up, then added an RBI single.

Even with the Daikin Park roof closed, a cloud hovered over the win for the Dodgers.

Glasnow gave up a leadoff home run to Brice Matthews to start his day and struck out the next two batters – passing the 1,000-strikeout milestone in his career.

The 1,001 strikeouts came in 793 career innings, making him the fastest starting pitcher (a minimum of 50% of games as a starter) in baseball history to reach 1,000 strikeouts.

When Glasnow went back out to warm up for the second inning, however, he threw just two pitches before stopping and waving for the trainer. There was only a brief conversation among Glasnow, Roberts and trainer Thomas Albert before Glasnow left the mound and disappeared into the Dodgers’ clubhouse with back spasms.

“I’m not, like, worried about it at all,” said Glasnow, who has had lower back issues before. “It’s more about just, I hope I can come back sooner than later. But it doesn’t seem or feel too serious so I’m not too worried about it.”

While the Dodgers’ bullpen had Glasnow’s back, the Astros’ injury-depleted pitching staff padded its MLB lead in runs allowed.

Astros starter Lance McCullers Jr. had his own visit from a trainer when a piece of a fingernail broke off as he was throwing a curveball. He didn’t make it through three innings. The Dodgers’ first three runs against McCullers scored on wild pitches – the first time a team has done that since the Philadelphia Phillies against the Atlanta Braves on Aug. 14, 1969. The next three runs scored on one bad pitch – a waist-high sinker slugged for a three-run home run by Pages in the Dodgers’ five-run third inning.

The Dodgers kept adding on from there, including a two-run home run from Pages in the fifth inning. Pages made it a three-homer day when he took Astros catcher Cesar Salazar, closing out the rout on the mound, deep in the ninth inning.

“I think the plan, the process has been fine with Andy. But I do think that there was a next level of not being careful today,” Roberts said. “That’s the difference I saw. I think he hit a good sinker in, that I think, for me, he’s been popping up or hitting grounders to the right side of the infield. Where I think today, he recognizes the pitch and then takes a convicted swing and hits a homer. So those are things that are just the next level of that conviction piece.”

Pages left St. Louis on a 10-for-47 slide but went 6 for 9 in the last two games in Houston. Kyle Tucker also came to life on the road trip, going 7 for 21, including two multi-hit games during the series in his first baseball home.

“Just having a lot of confidence in what I’m doing up there, and being optimistic that the plan and the approach is going to come with results,” Pages said through an interpreter.

“I definitely feel the same. Just, honestly, the bad streak really happened when I was hitting the ball well and hitting ball hard, just not finding a lot of holes. But staying to my plan, staying confident in my approach, and the results are coming now.”