Gavin Stone strikes out 10 as the Dodgers beat the Mariners 3-0 in Justin Turner’s return to LA
AP Sports Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Gavin Stone struck out a career-high 10 over seven innings, Gavin Lux and Max Muncy homered in the seventh, and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Seattle Mariners 3-0 on Monday night.
The Dodgers have won seven in a row overall and eight straight at home against the Mariners since 2015.
Stone (11-5), a 25-year-old right-hander, recorded eight strikeouts through four innings. He allowed singles to Julio Rodriguez and former Dodger Justin Turner, who returned to Dodger Stadium for the first time since his memorable nine-year run with the team ended in 2022. He went 1 for 3.
“Felt good with everything pretty much and Will (Smith) did a great job calling pitches,” Stone said. “They’re a team that swings a lot so getting ahead was huge.”
Evan Phillips retired the side in the ninth to earn his 16th save.
Lux homered off Bryan Woo (5-2) with one out in the seventh. The 24-year-old right-hander left one batter later after hitting Will Smith.
Muncy followed with a two-run shot off former Dodger Yimi Garcia for his first homer since May 7.
“It’s just a relentless lineup,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “When you got Max Muncy hitting seventh, that’s saying something. For Max to come up in a big spot and homer gave us some breathing room.”
The third baseman came off the injured list on Monday after being out since May 17 with an oblique strain.
“It’s a little bit of a relief,” Muncy said. “The mechanics feel really good. Obviously the timing isn’t where I want it to be.”
Muncy endured a couple months where his injury couldn’t be pinpointed. He got numerous chiropractic adjustments, as well as scans, MRIs and an injection.
“Once we finally got it fixed, it felt like I wasn’t even injured,” he said.
Woo gave up two runs and two hits in 6 1/3 innings. He struck out five and walked two.
The Dodgers had been limited to an opposite-field single by Shohei Ohtani in the first before their big rally in the seventh. With two outs, they loaded the bases on Tommy Edman’s first single as a Dodger and back-to-back walks to Ohtani and Mookie Betts. Freddie Freeman lined to second to end the inning.
Freeman played with a hairline fracture on his right middle finger. He deftly caught a liner by Josh Rojas and stepped on first to double Turner off and end the fifth.
Freeman robbed Cal Raleigh of a hit in the sixth, leaping fully extended to grab a liner that ended the inning.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Dodgers: Activated INF-OF Edman (offseason wrist surgery) and INF Muncy (right oblique strain) from the IL. … Placed C Austin Barnes (left big toe fracture) on the IL. … Transferred RHP River Ryan (right elbow UCL strain) to the 60-day IL.
UP NEXT
Mariners: RHP Bryce Miller (9-7, 3.29 ERA) is coming off a gem against Detroit in which he allowed two hits over seven scoreless innings and struck out nine.
Dodgers: RHP Walker Buehler (1-4, 5.68 ERA) makes his second start since coming off the IL. He needs to improve after giving up four runs and three hits over 3 1/3 innings against Milwaukee.
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