Subscribe
Follow Us
The Houston Astros won 6-4 over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday at Dodger Stadium, with Josh Hader continuing his dominance on the mound. Hader notched his major league-leading 25th save of the 2025 season, extending his perfect save streak to start the year. The left-hander entered with two on and two out in the eighth inning and needed just 24 pitches over 1 1/3 innings to shut the door on the Dodgers.
With the Astros clinging to a two-run lead, Hader struck out pinch-hitter Esteury Ruiz to escape the eighth-inning jam. In the ninth, he allowed a leadoff single to Shohei Ohtani but quickly retired Mookie Betts, Will Smith, and Freddie Freeman, striking out one more batter to seal the win.
Josh Hader now holds a 1.80 ERA, a 61:7 strikeout-to-walk ratio, and a 0.73 WHIP over 40 innings this season, continuing to be one of the most reliable closers in baseball.
The Astros' offense gave Hader room to work with after putting up four runs in the third inning. After Shohei Ohtani exited following two scoreless innings in his fourth start of the season, Justin Wrobleski (4-3) took over and immediately ran into trouble. Zack Short delivered a two-run double, followed by RBI singles from Cam Smith and Christian Walker, turning a 2-0 deficit into a 4-2 lead for Houston.
Yainer Diaz added to the offensive burst in the fourth, hitting his 11th home run of the season to push the lead to 5-2. He finished the game 1-for-4 with the solo shot.
The Dodgers responded with a two-run homer by Miguel Rojas in the bottom of the fourth to cut the lead to 5-4, but they couldn’t close the gap. In the seventh, Jose Altuve tripled to lead off the inning and later scored on Victor Caratini’s sacrifice fly to make it 6-4. Josh Hader then sealed the deal to close it.
Framber Valdez (10-4) earned the win, giving up four runs on seven hits while striking out seven over six innings. Despite a shaky start, Valdez settled in to hold off the Dodgers, who had won 15 of their last 18 games before dropping back-to-back contests to Houston.
The Astros' offense remained hot, having scored 24 runs across the first two games of the series, including an 18-1 blowout win on Friday night, the worst loss in Dodgers history at Dodger Stadium.
