pitchers

As left-hander Alex Vesia emerged from the Dodgers bullpen, heard the electric guitar riff of Seether’s “Gasoline,” and felt his adrenaline spike with the roar of the crowd, he knew 27 of those cheering fans had helped him and wife Kayla through a devastating loss just months prior.

He and Kayla had chosen the Dodgers’ game against the Mets on Tuesday, Healthcare appreciation night at Dodger Stadium, to celebrate the hands-on staff at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center who had cared for them last October, through the death of their newborn daughter Sterling Sol.

He’d spotted their suite by shirts Kayla had customized for the group, bearing the initials SV with a heart, and signed by Alex.

“Today was the first time I’ve seen pretty much all of them since everything,” Alex Vesia said after earning the save in the Dodgers’ 2-1 win Tuesday. “So it was very special, very emotional. … I couldn’t have written it any better.”

Vesia authored the ending to what manager Dave Roberts called an “old school” pitcher’s duel. Dodgers starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Mets starter each yielded only one run apiece, both in the first inning.

Yamamoto retired 20 straight after surrendering a leadoff home run to Francisco Lindor. And he came back out in the eighth, with right-hander Blake Treinen and Vesia preparing for the call.

When Yamamoto allowed back-to-back two-out singles, just his third and fourth hits allowed, Roberts brought in Treinen to face Luis Robert Jr. Treinen struck out Robert on a sweeper that caught the bottom of the strike zone and withstood an ABS challenge.

“Not having [closer Edwin Díaz] available, I felt very confident to use Blake to get out of that inning, to get Robert,” Roberts said, “and to have Vesia take on some righties in a close situation.”

Díaz hadn’t pitched since last Friday, when he didn’t feel quite right and his velocity dropped during a blown save. Though he insisted over the weekend that he felt good physically, the Dodgers proceeded with caution.

Because of the time off, Roberts said, the training and coaching staff wanted Díaz to throw a bullpen Tuesday before returning to game action. As long as he responds well, Roberts said, Díaz will be “ready to go” Wednesday in the series finale.

Kyle Tucker singles in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning Tuesday.

(Ronaldo Bolanos / Los Angeles Times)

On Tuesday, a clutch swing from Kyle Tucker in the bottom of the eighth created a save situation with Díaz down.

With runners on first and second, Tucker fell behind in the count against Mets left-handed reliever Brooks Raley. Then, shaking off his slow offensive start to the season, Tucker sent a 1-and-2 cutter into shallow left field.

“He’s going through it right now,” Roberts said. “But for him to stick his nose in there against Raley and find a way … to just flare a ball to get a game-winning hit, he helped us win a baseball game.”

Then it was Vesia’s time.

The heart of the order was coming up for the Mets: Jorge Polanco, Bo Bichette and Francisco Alvarez.

“Doc trusting me to get those three hitters out, those are no-joke hitters right there,” Vesia said. “So I definitely knew I needed to be on my game.”

A top-rail fastball got him a called first strike against Polanco. Then Vesia, who mostly throws fastballs and sliders, got Polanco to whiff on an outside changeup.

“I think even Will [Smith] and I surprised each other with the changeup that I threw,” Vesia said.

He went above the zone with a fastball, and Polanco chased it to complete a three-pitch strikeout.

Vesia then only needed four pitches to strike out Bichette on a slider in the dirt. Three straight sliders to Alvarez finished the job.

Vesia hopped and fist-pumped as the Dodgers (13-4) formed their handshake line. He met SportsNet LA’s Kirsten Watson outside of the dugout for the on-field interview and choked back tears after waving to the Cedars-Sinai suite.

“That’s what I do it for, man,” he said later in the clubhouse. “I wear my heart on my sleeve when I’m out there. So I was pretty fired up to be put in that spot.”

The much anticipated pitching duel between Gary Morse of Orange Lutheran and Julian Garcia of St. John Bosco on Wednesday under the lights at Hart Park exceeded expectations.

With both hitting 95 mph, Morse gave up two hits in six innings with eight strikeouts. Garcia struck out 10 and also gave up two hits, but one was a leadoff home run by Ricardo Hurtado.

St. John Bosco (11-2, 5-0) broke a 1-1 tie with three runs in the seventh to defeat Orange Lutheran 4-1. It was the second consecutive Braves win. Orange Lutheran, which came into the week ranked No. 1 by The Times after winning the National High School Invitational, dropped to 7-3 overall and 0-2 in the Trinity League.

Closer Jack Champlin came in after a leadoff single in the seventh to pick up the save.

The Braves loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh, then scored two runs on a wild pitch and added a third on James Clark’s single. The teams close out their three-game series in a 1:30 p.m. game Thursday at St. John Bosco.

Gary Morse of Orange Lutheran struck out eight against St. John Bosco in six innings Wednesday.

(Nick Koza)

Concord De La Salle 1, Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 0: Sam Lakey hit a two-out solo home run in the top of the seventh inning to break up a pitching duel and send De La Salle into Thursday’s championship game of the National Classic. It was the third consecutive shutout by De La Salle pitchers. Notre Dame’s Lachlan Clark made no mistakes other than giving up the home run. He struck out 10 in 6⅔ innings. Notre Dame twice had bases-loaded situations but failed to take advantage, including hitting into a double play in the bottom of the sixth.

Corona Centennial 5, Cypress 1: Jacob Torres threw a complete game with nine strikeouts and Aiden Simpson homered to lead the Huskies in a semifinal game of the National Classic. They will face De La Salle on Thursday at 4 p.m. at El Dorado in the tourney final.

Vancouver (Wash.) Union 1, El Dorado 0: The Golden Hawks gave up a run in the bottom of the seventh. Julian Rodriguez gave up three hits in 6⅔ innings.

Fountain Valley 5, Edison 0: Four pitchers combined for the shutout. Ethan Cortez had two doubles.

Harvard-Westlake 7, Loyola 1: James Tronstein homered, Jake Kim had two RBIs and Evan Alexander struck out 10 in 5⅓ innings.

Bell 7, Chula Vista Olympian 3: The Eagles (15-1) received four RBIs from Eric Medina, including a two-run single in the seventh to break a 3-3 tie.

Sylmar 5, San Francisco Lincoln 2: Tim Sepulveda had two hits and three RBIs while Rickee Luevano went three for three to lead Sylmar.

El Camino Real 6, La Costa Canyon 4: Michael Spancer and Shane Bogacz each had three hits while Blake Dubin had a two-run single for the Royals.

Cleveland 9, Marshall 3: The Cavaliers won their eighth consecutive game. Shiloh Wickliffe had two hits and three RBIs.

Quartz Hill 13, Palmdale 0: Parker White had three hits and threw a no-hitter in the Golden League win over Palmdale.

Ayala 4, Bonita 2: Easton Sarmiento struck out seven in 5⅓ innings for Ayala (11-1).

Bishop Alemany 10, Chatsworth 0: Mikey Martinez, a transfer from Crespi, had three hits in his Alemany debut.

Carson 9, Classical 7: Nate Ruan had three hits, including a two-run home run. Skylar Vinson also had a two-run home run.

Foothill 6, Irvine 0: Jackson Phillips threw the shutout, striking out nine and giving up two hits.

Villa Park 5, Arcadia 2: Aidan Young had two hits for Villa Park. Logan Hoppie threw a complete game with six strikeouts.

Mira Costa 13, Torrance 4: Connor Collins drove in four runs for the Mustangs.

Oaks Christian 5, Westlake 1: Dane Disney and Carson Sheffer each had two hits in the Marmonte League win.

Thousand Oaks 3, Newbury Park 1: Jake Ange continued his hot hitting with a home run, single and two RBIs.

Palos Verdes 7, Redondo Union 2: Franco Correa and Jackson Alba each finished with three hits for Palos Verdes.

Huntington Beach 8, Corona del Mar 2: Jared Grindlinger had four hits and four RBIs and Owen Bone homered for the Oilers.

Newport Harbor 7, Los Alamitos 3: Henry Mann was three for three with two RBIs for Newport Harbor.

Norco 17, King 2: The Cougars (12-1) received four hits from Zion Martinez and three hits and three RBIs from Jacob Melendez to stay unbeaten in the Big VIII League. Jordan Ayala struck out seven and gave up one hit in four innings, setting him up to pitch against St. John Bosco on Tuesday in the Boras Classic.

Santa Margarita 6, Mater Dei 0: Tyler Unter struck out nine in six scoreless innings and Andre Owens had two doubles for the Eagles.

Servite 6, JSerra 4: Jaden Liu had two RBIs in Servite’s Trinity League win.

South Hills 5, McClatchy 2: Christian Santoyo threw a complete game for South Hills.

Mission Viejo 1, Tesoro 0: Jackson Krause, Caleb Tucker and Jackson Stonebarger combined for the shutout. Aiden Chapuis had three hits.

Chaminade 4, Granada Hills 3: Nicholas Penaranda had three hits for the Highlanders in the loss. Isaac Hearn had two hits and two RBIs for Chaminade.

Corona Santiago 9, Las Vegas Basic 2: Jonathan Thornton had three hits and Striker Pence struck out six in five innings.

Softball

Orange Lutheran 2, King 1: The Lancers won their first-round game of the Michelle Carew tournament. Rylee Silva struck out seven. Carlie Snyder had two hits.

Garden Grove Pacifica 13, Long Beach Poly 6: Matte Stern had a triple, single and four RBIs for Pacifica.

Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 7, Camarillo 2: Jackie Morales hit a two-run home run for the Knights.

Fullerton 7, Chino Hills 5: Hayley Brock had a home run, double, two singles and four RBIs for 13-1 Fullerton. Malaya Majam-Finch struck out nine. Milena Medyn led Chino Hills with three hits.

Norco 4, Long Beach Millikan 0: Coral Williams struck out nine in the shutout. Angelina Gonzales hit a home run.

Marina 8, Rio Mesa 0: Mia Valbuena threw two no-hitters, first against Rio Mesa, then in a 1-0 win over Los Altos. She had 18 strikeouts against Los Altos.

HOUSTON — Carlos Correa and Isaac Paredes each drove in two runs and sparked an eight-run sixth inning for the Houston Astros in an 11-9 victory over the Angels on Saturday night.

Trailing 6-4, the Astros tied it on a single by Correa and a throwing error by Angels catcher Logan O’Hoppe. Houston took a lead on a single from Christian Walker.

The Astros tagged Angels reliever Walbert Ureña (0-1) for six runs on four hits in one inning.

Houston blew it open off a two-run single by Yainer Diaz and a two-run double off the right field wall from Jake Meyers to make it 11-6. The eight runs is the most scored in the sixth inning by Houston since scoring 10 against the Dodgers on July 4.

An Angels bullpen that had registered 7⅔ innings of scoreless baseball to start the season gave up eight runs between Ureña and Joey Lucchesi in the sixth inning alone.

Houston trailed 6-0 in the fifth, but a two-run double by Paredes chased Angels starter Reid Detmers.

Detmers, who was making his first regular-season start since Sept. 27, 2024, gave up three runs on six hits and struck out nine in 4⅔ innings.

Kai-Wei Teng (1-0) made his Astros debut in the fifth inning. Teng was acquired from the San Francisco Giants in January. He gave up no runs on one hit, struck out two and walked one in 2⅓ innings to register his first win.

Oswald Peraza and Jorge Soler homered in back-to-back innings to make it 3-0. Nolan Schanuel hit a three-run homer in the ninth to make it 11-9. The Angels have eight homers as a team, which tops the majors.

Cristian Javier gave up six runs on four hits, striking out one and walking four in 4⅔ innings.