Buehler, Betts push Dodgers to 5-3 win vs. Rangers

LOS ANGELES — Mookie Betts knows he’s struggling. He still homered and scored three runs.

The Dodgers’ bullpen let six straight Rangers reach base and allowed three runs in the ninth. Kenley Jansen still got three gritty outs with the bases loaded to end it.

Manager Dave Roberts was thoroughly unhappy with his team’s performance. Los Angeles still moved within one game of the overall NL lead.

The standards are simply higher when you’re the defending World Series champions, and the Dodgers are winning even when they aren’t meeting their own expectations.

Walker Buehler pitched six scoreless innings of five-hit ball to remain unbeaten since 2019, and the Dodgers held off Texas 5-3 on Sunday when Jansen escaped a bases-loaded, nobody-out jam.

“Today, I don’t think we played a very good baseball game, and we came away with the win,” Roberts said.

Buehler (6-0) survived a rough first inning and made it through his second straight scoreless start, while his teammates cobbled together enough runs for a comfortable win. But the Dodgers’ bullpen struggled in the ninth until Jansen belatedly throttled the rally.

Jason Martin and Isiah Kiner-Falefa drove in runs in the ninth off reliever Phil Bickford. Jansen came on and gave up an RBI single to Willie Calhoun on his first pitch before Texas loaded the bases.

The veteran closer then got two popups before Nick Solak grounded out to end a nine-pitch at-bat and Jansen’s 15th save. No wonder Roberts was frustrated, although he declined to give specifics.

“Throughout the game, there are some things we need to get better at,” Roberts said. “It’s just good that Kenley came in and shut the door.”

Zach McKinstry had a two-run double while going 3 for 3 with a walk, and Gavin Lux added his own RBI double in the fifth victory in six games. The Dodgers (39-26) moved right behind San Francisco (40-25) atop the division and secured the series win after these clubs traded 12-1 victories in the first two games.

One night after Texas ended its franchise-record-tying 16-game road losing streak, the Rangers fell to an MLB-worst 8-25 in interleague play over the past two seasons. They have lost 14 of 17 despite avoiding their eighth shutout loss of the season with that exciting ninth.