Corey Seager’s Triple Leads Dodgers To 7-5 Home Win Over Orioles

Corey Seager extended his MLB-leading 17-game hitting streak as the rookie shortstop’s seventh-inning triple propelled the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 7-5 home victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Monday night.

Corey Seager’s Triple Leads Dodgers To 7-5 Home Win Over Orioles

After Seager ripped a base hit down the right-field line, Dodger Stadium erupted into cheers, as the crowd nearly drowned out the fireworks set off all across Los Angeles to celebrate the fourth of July.

The Orioles now have a season-high five-game losing streak, including a four-game road series loss to the Seattle Mariners. The Dodgers, meanwhile, have won their last five games and their last 10 home games.

“We’re still not at the All-Star break yet, so we have a lot of baseball to play,” Orioles catcher Matt Wieters said. “The big thing is trying to fix what’s going wrong and just working and moving forward. We know that the answer is going to come in here in this clubhouse and it’s just a matter of getting there.”

Neither team’s starting pitcher lasted beyond the fourth inning, as Dodgers left-hander Julio Urias and Orioles right-hander Yovani Gallardo both struggled with command. While the Mexican Urias, 19, has performed well in his previous five outings, this could be his last start with Los Angeles for a while due to the team’s need to clear a roster spot for the returning South Korean left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu, who starts Thursday for the first time since the playoffs in 2014.

“I thought he was just missing on some pitches,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of Urias, who made his Major League debut on May 27, a 6-5 road loss against the New York Mets. “Really throwing to the big part of the plate, couldn’t get the ball down, missing to the middle, couldn’t command his breaking ball. He competed out there, but those are some good hitters.”

Urias allowed five runs in 3 1/3 innings Monday. Roberts also added that right-hander Brandon McCarthy is set to return from the disabled list on Thursday after 14 months out of action following Tommy John surgery.

Yasiel Puig opened scoring for the Dodgers with a solo home run to left-center field off Gallardo in the second, his seventh of the year, to cut the Orioles’ lead to 3-1. Yasmani Grandal followed by blasting a shot to right field. The two homers combined to travel 823 feet, per Statcast. Puig is now hitting .381 in 13 games since returning from the disabled list with a hamstring injury on June 21.

“Yasiel, he’s sneaking some hits in there and playing the heck out of right field as he’s done all year,” Roberts said. “Playing hard and for him to hit the ball out of the ballpark, I think that was a little sigh of relief for him. He’s bound to get hot, we’ve all seen it.”

Puig’s and Gallardo’s back-to-back homers marked the Dodgers’ first in 2016.

Shortstop J.J. Hardy also helped lead Baltimore’s offense. In a 1-pitch at-bat, Hardy fouled off five offerings before hitting a two-run double into the right-center gap. Following Hardy’s double and and a single by Wieters in the fourth, outfielder Joey Rickard scored both players with a single.

Chase Utley added his own RBI single for the Dodgers in the fourth, which put runners at the corner for the 22-year-old Seager. Utley then added another RBI single in the sixth to tie the game just one inning ahead of Seager’s game-winning triple.

Seager put the lead run on third with a triple to right field, beating Mark Trumbo’s throw. Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner hit a sacrifice fly in the next at-bat to score Seager and seal the lead for Los Angeles.

“Kind of that point in the game, have to get to third,” Seager said. “If you get thrown out, nobody’s going to be mad at you. You have to be on third to get two chances to score.”

The two teams will next face off again for the second game of their three-game series in Los Angeles on Tuesday night. Right-hander Chris Tillman will start for the Orioles. Tillman has allowed 14 earned runs over his last 14 2/3 innings. Japanese rookie right-hander Kenta Maeda (2.82 ERA) will take the mound for the Dodgers.

PHOTO: LOS ANGELES, CA – JULY 04: Corey Seager #5 of the Los Angeles Dodgers hits a RBI single in the fourth inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Dodger Stadium on July 4, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Lisa Blumenfeld/Getty Images)