Dodgers turn a Skenes matchup into a rout as 10-run 7th breaks the Pirates open

The Dodgers and Pirates built Tuesday night’s storyline around a pitching duel featuring Pittsburgh right-hander Paul Skenes, and Los Angeles did not fold when the game stayed close early. Eric Lauer, the Dodgers’ left-hander, held his own against Skenes long enough to keep the score level entering the late innings, and the Dodgers then changed the complexion of the game in the seventh. After a tie had already formed and then persisted through the sixth, a rapid offensive burst turned the contest into a runaway, ending in a 12-3 victory for the Dodgers at PNC Park.

According to game coverage, Los Angeles entered the seventh tied after Lauer worked into the sixth, allowing runs early and then settling down. The description of the outing notes that Lauer retired 15 of his final 16 batters faced, leaving the game at 2-2 after 5 2/3 innings before he was replaced. In that framework, the Dodgers’ approach made sense: be patient against the hype arm, take advantage of bullpen leverage when it arrived, and keep enough scoring threats alive so that one extended frame could swing everything.

That swing came quickly. With the game tied, Pittsburgh’s bullpen stopped being a neutral element and became the catalyst. The seventh inning reportedly featured a prolonged rally that required 10 Dodgers to bat, with the Pirates bullpen not recording an out until the frame had already produced damage. Coverage attributes the breakdown in part to reliever Wilber Dotel, who allowed multiple baserunners and, critically, all of them scored during the inning’s scoring run.

The Dodgers added power and timing to the chaos. Andy Pages hit a two-run home run during the eruption, one of several key hits that stretched the inning’s duration and widened the gap between the teams. Freddie Freeman also contributed to the decisive margin, driving in runs late in the seventh, including the 10th run of the frame. The same coverage highlights Freeman’s career milestone, as his RBI single in the seventh was also his 2,500th hit.

Freeman’s 2,500th career hit was recorded against Pittsburgh, and the milestone was part of a broader Dodgers burst that turned a manageable game into a mismatch. By the time the inning ended, Los Angeles had clearly moved from threat mode into control mode, forcing Pittsburgh to play catch-up in a game that could not be efficiently repaired. The final score, 12-3, reflected not only the seventh inning’s length and impact, but also the broader separation that followed once the Dodgers established the lead.

For the Pirates, the primary question after the loss is how quickly the bullpen can regain stability after a starter leaves a game in a tie. The reported seventh-inning sequence is the sort of moment that can compress a night for a team that had competed early. For the Dodgers, the win offered a two-part takeaway: the ability to avoid unraveling during marquee starts and the readiness to capitalize once the game moves from rotation pitching to relief matchups.

Looking ahead, watch how Los Angeles manages the momentum of an offense that produced a heavy scoring inning on the road, and whether Pittsburgh responds with adjustments to its late-inning plan. The result also underscores a recurring baseball theme: even with a high-visibility starter like Skenes on the mound, the bullpen innings can decide how a matchup is ultimately remembered.