The Houston Astros plated 10 runs in the sixth inning to break open the game early. Ben Casparius struggled again, and the Dodgers offense was a big dud in historic home loss.
The Dodgers (56-33) got walloped 18-1 by the Astros (53-32) on the Fourth of July at Dodger Stadium Friday night. It was the worst blowout home loss ever at Dodger Stadium.
The Houston offense was popping off like firecrackers against the Dodgers in a lopsided contest between the two first-place teams. The bullpen game was a bust for the Dodgers with 16 combined earned runs allowed between opener Ben Casparius and reliever Noah Davis.
Offensively, the Dodgers lit a bunch of duds. Other than a Will Smith solo home run in the second inning, the bats were on holiday.
Home Runs and Hot Dogs
On the first pitch of the series, Isaac Paredes hit a leadoff home run on a Casparius four-seamer. Christian Walker continued to hit well at Dodger Stadium with a two-out RBI single to give the Astros an early 2-0 lead.
All-Star Will Smith got the Dodgers on the board with his 12th home run of the season, a solo shot to cut Houston’s lead in half. Smith has hit six homers in his last 12 games.
Will Smith cuts the Dodgers deficit in half ⭐️ pic.twitter.com/QgLI7SnKty
— MLB (@MLB) July 5, 2025
Bombs Bursting in Air
The bombs continued to burst in air at Dodger Stadium for the Astros against Casparius who served up three doubles and two home runs in the inning. Jose Altuve took a Casparius curveball deep for a two-run homer, and tormenter Walker hit a two-run bomb as well to make it 6-1.
The 417-foot homer to left field was 107.5-mph off the bat for Walker’s 28th career home run against the Dodgers.
Baseball is wonderfully random, and you never know what you’ll see next. In the bottom of the third, Shohei Ohtani hit a ball off McCullers Jr. ‘s lower left leg, subsequently caught by Altuve. The ball never hit the ground, and Ohtani was called out.
The Dodgers loaded the bases with three two-out base runners, but Teoscar Hernández grounded out to Altuve at second to strand everyone.
Casparius was replaced by Jack Dreyer after three innings pitched. He allowed nine hits, six runs, and eight batted balls with an exit velocity of 100-mph or higher.
Floodgates: Opened
The Astros scored 10 runs in the sixth inning to make it 17-1.
Cooper Hummel’s two-out two-strike RBI single chased Dreyer from the game, but Noah Davis came in and surrendered a whopping 10 earned runs.
Victor Caratini made it a 13-1 drubbing with a sixth-inning grand slam versus Davis. Altuve also hit a three-run homer off Davis in the frame for his second long ball of the night.
The Astros tacked on their 18th run in the top of the seventh, and at that point Miguel Rojas was probably starting to stretch.
Sure enough, in the top of the ninth, Rojas was out for his fourth pitching appearance for the Dodgers this season.
Rojas pitched a scoreless frame, but this Dodgers dud was all but done in the sixth inning.
Friday particulars
Home runs: Isaac Paredes (18), Will Smith (12), 2 Jose Altuve (15), Christian Walker (11), Victor Caratini (8)
WP — Lance McCullers Jr. (2-3) : 5 IP, 3 hits, 1 run, 3 walks, 4 strikeouts (73 pitches)
LP — Ben Casparius (6-3) : 3 IP, 6 runs, 9 hits, no walks, 3 strikeouts (59 pitches)
S — Jason Alexander (1): 3 IP, 2 hits, 2 walks, no runs, 2 strikeouts (57 pitches)
Up next
Shohei Ohtani (2.25 ERA, 3 K, 4 IP) makes his fourth pitching start for the Dodgers in the second game of the series against Houston on Saturday at (4:15 p.m. PT, FOX).
Left-hander Framber Valdez (9-4, 2.72 ERA, 1.13 WHIP) toes the rubber for the Astros.