A pair of rookies stole the show for the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday as Miguel Vargas walked with the bases loaded and James Outman hit a grand slam to power a 7-3 comeback victory over the visiting Minnesota Twins.
With the Dodgers trailing 3-2 in the seventh inning, Vargas’ walk tied it and Outman went deep to center field one pitch later against Twins right-hander Emilio Pagan for his second career grand slam and ninth home run of the season.
Dodgers starter Dustin May lasted just one inning before he departed with right elbow pain. May, who returned last season from Tommy John surgery in 2021, was replaced by right-hander Dylan Covey, who was making his first major league appearance since 2020.
Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts said after the game that May has a flexor pronator strain and will land on the injured list. May is expected to miss at least one month.
Byron Buxton and Joey Gallo hit home runs for the Twins, while major league ERA leader Sonny Gray gave up two runs on five hits in four innings, his shortest start of the season.
The Dodgers took a 1-0 lead in the third inning on a leadoff triple from Mookie Betts and a sacrifice fly to left field from Freddie Freeman.
The Twins responded in the fourth inning to tie the game when Buxton hit a home run to center field off Covey. But the Dodgers answered right back in the fourth when Outman had an infield single to end an 0-for-13 slide, stole second base and scored on a two-out single from Betts.
The Twins tied the score 2-2 in the sixth inning on Gallo’s leadoff home run to center field. Covey immediately loaded the bases, giving up singles to Alex Kirilloff and Carlos Correa and a walk to Buxton.
Left-hander Victor Gonzalez entered for the Dodgers and got out of the mess by getting Jorge Polanco on a popup, Donovan Solano on a strikeout and Kyle Farmer on a flyout.
One inning later, the Twins took a 3-2 lead after Willi Castro appeared to get caught between second and third base. Instead, he scored when Dodgers left-hander Caleb Ferguson misfired his throw to third base to start the rundown.
Los Angeles right-hander Brusdar Graterol (2-1) did not give up a hit over 1 1/3 innings to earn the win. Covey gave up two runs on five hits over four innings.
Twins right-hander Jose De Leon (0-1) gave up two runs over 1 2/3 innings.
–Field Level Media
