McCullers, Astros silence LA bats at raucous Dodger Stadium

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Lance McCullers Jr. threw 6 2/3 shutout innings and the Houston Astros withstood the raucous, heckling fans at Dodger Stadium to blank Los Angeles 3-0 Tuesday night.

The crowd of 52,692 — the largest in the majors this season — had waited a long time to let José Altuve, Carlos Correa and the Astros know just how they felt about possibly being cheated out of a 2017 World Series title.

The jeering started early as the crowd in the upper deck and bleachers shouted “Cheaters!” at Houston players during warmups and threw back Astros homers in batting practice.

The booing and chants only got louder, but the fans made more noise than the LA bats. Houston pitchers gave up just five singles and struck out 13 as the AL West leaders ended a two-game losing streak.

This was the first chance Dodgers fans had to jeer the Astros in person at Chavez Ravine since their sign-stealing scandal was revealed late in 2019. Houston beat LA in the 2017 World Series, winning Game 7 at Dodger Stadium.

Michael Brantley's RBI double in the fourth inning gave Houston a 1-0 lead before Yordan Alvarez's two-run homer over the wall in right center off Victor González provided some much-needed insurance.

McCullers (9-2) — who started that Game 7 in 2017 — struck out nine and allowed four hits and with three walks.

Ryne Stanek retired the side in order in the ninth. for his second save.

Walker Buehler (11-2) threw a career-high 115 pitches in six innings. He was charged with one run on five hits with five strikeouts and three walks.

The Dodgers left 10 runners on base but had only one reach third. Los Angeles had runners at the corners with two outs in the eighth inning before Chas McCormick struck out Cody Bellinger to end the inning.

Martin Maldonado opened the Houston third with...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/McCullers-Astros-silence-LA-bats-at-raucous-16362247.php