Blake Snell delivered his third consecutive strong outing in his return from an elbow procedure and the Los Angeles Dodgers finished off a three-game sweep over the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates with a 4-0 victory Sunday.
Alek Thomas had an RBI single in his second game with the Dodgers and Hunter Feduccia added his own RBI single as the Dodgers extended their winning streak to six games while improving to 10-3 since Aug. 10.
Snell (2-1) gave up just two hits over six scoreless innings with six strikeouts and three walks. He has given up two total runs over 18 innings since his return Aug. 11. He threw a season-high 94 pitches.
Brandon Lowe and Spencer Horwitz had singles for the Pirates on an otherwise ineffective day on offense. Pittsburgh right-hander Carmen Mlodzinski followed opener Lake Bachar β who went two innings β and gave up most of the damage: three runs allowed on five hits over three innings.
Pittsburgh entered the current series still clinging to playoff hopes but is now 0-3 to start a nine-game road trip and 8 1/2 games out of the third and final wild-card spot in the National League.
The Dodgers got off to a quick start against Bachar (1-3) when Shohei Ohtani led off the bottom of the first with a walk and a stolen base before advancing to third on a Freddie Freeman single. Ohtani scored when Mookie Betts grounded into a double play.
Los Angeles built its advantage to 3-0 in the fourth inning when Thomas and Feduccia had back-to-back run-scoring singles with two outs. Both players are taking advantage as replacements for Andy Pages (hand) and Will Smith (neck), who are both on the injured list.
Two consecutive singles to start the fifth inning and a ground ball from Max Muncy put the Dodgers up 4-0 in the fifth.
Edgardo Henriquez, Brock Stewart and Alex Vesia finished off the victory for Los Angeles with one scoreless inning each. Dodgers pitchers combined for 10 strikeouts.
