LOS ANGELES -- Beau Brieske went toe to toe with a legend and Javier Baez had two huge RBI hits as the Detroit Tigers beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-1 on Saturday night at Dodger Stadium.
The Tigers (7-13) snapped a six-game losing streak and will try to win the series against the Dodgers (13-7) in the finale on Sunday afternoon.
Brieske, a 24-year-old rookie making only his second career start, surrendered a lead-off home run to Mookie Betts but then threw five scoreless innings, fighting for every out against the Dodgers’ high-powered lineup.
Brieske’s 14-pitch duel with Justin Turner in the fourth inning was the longest by a Detroit pitcher since 2016.
Brieske matched Dodgers starter and future Hall-of-Famer Clayton Kershaw on what turned out to be a historic night. Kershaw’s strikeout of Spencer Torkelson in the fourth was the 2,697th of his career, setting a new Dodgers’ franchise record.
The game was briefly paused while Kershaw acknowledged cheers from the sellout crowd of 52,613.
When Brieske and Kershaw departed, the game was tied at 1, leaving the outcome up to the two best bullpens in baseball. (The Tigers entered the game with a relief ERA of 2.12; the Dodgers were at 2.15).
The Tigers’ struggling offense was finally able to break through against the Dodgers’ pen.
Javier Baez, who drove in the Tigers’ first run in the third, shot an RBI double down the right-field line to score Jeimer Candelario in the seventh inning. It was the Tigers’ first lead since the eighth inning on Tuesday in Minneapolis, when Baez hit a go-ahead three-run homer, only to see the Tigers lose the game in spectacular fashion in the ninth.
Baez, who has been booed regularly this weekend, seemed to pump his arms in answer to the crowd after his first RBI hit.
“He thrives in environments like this,” said Tigers manager A.J. HInch. “They boo him from the outset and then he comes up big and reminds the fans when he does well. He’s an electrifying player.”
Baez said he’s not exactly sure why he’s booed in Los Angeles.
“I make it fun,” he said. “It’s sometimes fun and sometimes they get angry, but it’s just competing.”
He made a heart symbol to the dugout after his second hit.
Baez made it seem like he didn’t hold anything against the Dodger fanbase.
“There are a lot of Latins here and the communication is really good,” he said. “Sometimes they’ll see me outside and take pictures and (joke) with me.”
The Tigers’ bullpen continued its impressive stretch. Michael Fulmer entered with two outs in the seventh and ended the threat in one pitch by inducing a double play groundout from Austin Barnes.
Fulmer then pitched a scoreless eighth for his 20th consecutive scoreless outing, dating to September of last year.
Gregory Soto pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to seal a much-needed win.
“It’s been a tough week,” Hinch said. “So when you play a complete game and play clean baseball and get good pitching and some timely hitting -- all the things that lead to a win -- it feels really good.”
Up next
The Tigers and Dodgers wrap up their three-game series on Sunday at 4:10 p.m. Eastern time. Tigers lefty Eduardo Rodriguez (0-1, 5.03 ERA) will face Dodgers right-hander Walker Buehler (2-1, 2.55).
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