Garrett Crochet recovers after early blasts, leads Red Sox past Dodgers

Garrett Crochet allowed two solo home runs in the top of the first, but then pitched five shutout innings to help the Boston Red Sox defeat the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers 4-2 Saturday night.
Crochet (12-4) limited the Dodgers to two runs on eight hits in six innings. He struck out 10 and walked two.
It was the fifth time this season Crochet has recorded 10 or more strikeouts and allowed no more than two earned runs in at least six innings.
Shohei Ohtani and Teoscar Hernandez each homered against Crochet. Ohtani opened the game by hitting his 38th home run of the season. Two batters later Hernandez hit his 16th home run, which was his second in as many games.
Alex Bregman and Jarren Duran each collected three hits for the Red Sox, who also received two hits from Roman Anthony. Duran had two triples and a double.
Boston overcame a 2-0 deficit by scoring three runs in the second. The key hit in the inning was Duran’s two-run triple.
Hyeseong Kim collected two of the Dodgers’ nine hits.
Mookie Betts was not in the Dodgers starting lineup, but did pinch hit with two outs and a runner on first in the ninth. He struck out looking against Aroldis Chapman for the game’s final out. Chapman earned his 18th save.
Betts did not play in Los Angeles’ 5-2 victory on Friday night because he was in Tennessee taking care of a personal matter.
Los Angeles starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw exited the mound with two outs in the fifth. He gave up four runs on six hits, walked two and struck out two.
The Dodgers grabbed a 2-0 lead on the first-inning home runs from Ohtani and Hernandez, but Boston took the lead by scoring three runs in the second. After Duran tied the game with his two-run triple, Abraham Toro drove in Duran on a sacrifice fly to center field.
Boston added to its lead in the fifth. Bregman reached on a two-out single and scored on Anthony’s double to make it 4-2.