SYDNEY — Yasiel Puig had three hits and two RBIs to back a scoreless outing by Hyun-Jin Ryu, and the Los Angeles Dodgers made it 2 for 2 Down Under with a 7-5 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Saturday.
SYDNEY — Yasiel Puig had three hits and two RBIs to back a scoreless outing by Hyun-Jin Ryu, and the Los Angeles Dodgers made it 2 for 2 Down Under with a 7-5 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Saturday.
Dee Gordon and Juan Uribe also had three hits for the Dodgers, who finished with 13 in beating Arizona starter Trevor Cahill for the first time.
After a 3-1 win behind ace Clayton Kershaw in the Major League Baseball season opener Friday night, Los Angeles remained perfect at Sydney Cricket Ground with its second consecutive victory over its NL West rival in Australia.
Cahill (0-1) came in 6-0 with a 2.01 ERA in 10 career starts against the Dodgers, but left in the fifth trailing 3-0. He gave up eight hits with just one strikeout and was charged with five runs and four walks in four-plus innings.
The Diamondbacks made three errors, two by catcher Miguel Montero.
After trailing 7-0, Arizona scored once in the eighth and four times in the ninth, including Mark Trumbo’s two-run homer off closer Kenley Jansen with two outs.
Jansen struck out Gerardo Parra to end a game that featured 14 pitchers and lasted a minute more than 4 hours.
Beginning his second season in the majors, Ryu (1-0) held the Diamondbacks to two hits in five shutout innings. He struck out five and walked one.
The left-hander had a strong rookie season last year, going 14-8 with a 3.00 ERA in 30 starts after seven seasons in South Korea.
Trumbo also had an RBI single in the eighth, his first hit for the Diamondbacks. Martin Prado had a two-run single in the ninth.
Puig, who was 0 for 5 with three strikeouts in the opener, also made a nice running catch in right field on a liner off the bat of Aaron Hill with the bases loaded to end the Arizona seventh.
These were the first regular-season major league games played in Australia. The 162-year-old cricket ground was turned into a baseball park over two weeks, and nearly 80,000 fans attended the two games.
The Dodgers led 1-0 after the first inning. Puig singled and scored on a two-out single by Andre Ethier.
Los Angeles scored two more runs in the third after Ryu helped himself by leading off the inning with a sharp single over Hill’s head at second base. He moved to third when Gordon doubled to center, and scored on Puig’s second hit.
Adrian Gonzalez added a sacrifice fly.
Uribe hit an RBI double in a two-run fifth, and Puig doubled home Gordon in the sixth. Gordon had a sacrifice fly in the seventh.
Gordon and Puig were both hit by pitches. Puig was plunked by Cahill in the fourth inning, and Gordon by Addison Reed in the ninth. Last June, a brawl between the teams resulted in eight suspensions.
Teheran gets opening day start for Braves
KISSIMMEE, Fla. — Julio Teheran, who was 14-8 with a 3.20 ERA last year as a rookie, will get the opening day start for the Atlanta Braves.
Manager Fredi Gonzalez told Teheran on Saturday he’ll start on March 31 in Milwaukee. The Braves didn’t have much choice after a string of injuries this spring.
Kris Medlen and Brandon Beachy are sidelined because of elbow ligament transplant surgery. Ervin Santana, who signed late as a free agent, and Mike Minor (shoulder) won’t be ready to join the rotation until mid-April.
The Braves will go with three other starters the first two weeks of the season — Alex Wood, Freddy Garcia and rookie David Hale.
Teheran has a 1.42 ERA in five spring starts. He has 17 strikeouts and three walks while holding opponents to a .194 average.
Machado unsure about opening season
PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. — Manny Machado still doesn’t know if he’ll be ready to start the season with the Baltimore Orioles.
Two days after the 21-year-old All-Star third baseman had his left knee examined in Los Angeles by Dr. Neal ElAttrache, Machado has yet to run — even though he’s been cleared for full activities.
Machado’s recovery has been slowed by scar tissue in his knee as well as by a calf injury.
“Everything looks fine. Knee looks great. Nothing but good things. At this point I’ll just get back out there running and getting back to top speed. And once I get there, I’ll go ahead and continue doing whatever I’ve got to do,” Machado said at the Orioles’ spring training complex in Sarasota, Fla.
Baltimore opens its season on March 31, and Machado isn’t ruling out playing even though he must start playing this week.
By wire sources
