4 walks, 1 knock, 1 balk. These were the main ingredients in the witchcraft cocktail the Dodgers mixed in Saturday’s wacky eighth-inning rally for their 8-7 comeback victory over the Houston Astros.

A crowd of 49,281 in Chavez Valley hoarse as they booed José Altuve and Alex Bregman, who were retained from Houston’s electronic sign-stealing team in 2017, as the Dodgers trailed 7-3. In the final three innings he overcame, his voice grew even louder as he defeated the defending World Series champion to win four straight games.

Dodgers outfielder David Peralta said, “You can see what kind of team we are.” His pinch-hitter two-run home run put the Dodgers within 7-for-5 in the seventh inning. “We keep fighting to the end. We never give up.”

Peralta hit a clutch home run to right field off reliever Phil Maiton, and the team ignited the comeback fuse with their first hit since the inning. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said, “We were anemic for a long time, so this ball gave us life,” but it was the Astros who blew up in the eighth inning.

Houston right-hander Brian Abreu led the inning with walks from Freddie Freeman, Will Smith and JD Martinez, who fought back from a count of 0-and-2 to win the nine-ball showdown, shortly after Martinez made a full-count change. A plate that spat on the ball.

Jason Hayward threw a sacrifice fly to the right, Kyle Tucker slid into the gap, and Freeman scored to close the gap to 7-6 before Smith stepped up his guard and scored the third.

In addition, James Outman hit a RBI double to the right field that got caught in the wall pad, tying the score 7-7 and putting runners on second and third base with one out.

Houston Astros manager Dusty Baker got into an altercation with home base umpire Manny Gonzalez after relief pitcher Rein Stanek was ejected. Baker was also ejected from the game.

(Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press)

Houston manager Dusty Baker called in set-up man Rein Stanek, who struck out Peralta. However, when Stanek tried to send a full count to Miguel Rojas, second base umpire Junior Valentine called Stanek a balk and pinch runner Johnny DeLuca allowed the game-winning homer.

“He said I moved my house [right] I got off the mound, so it’s clear,” Stanek said. “He said I moved my knee. When you’re standing, you have to move your knee to get the rubber off. I thought that was an interesting reason.

“At what point was I trying to trick the runners? I wasn’t ready yet. I was still on set. I don’t know if

Neither Stanek nor Baker argued much after the call, but after Stanek walked Rojas on a walk and struck out Michael Bush to end the inning, Valentine fell when the umpire retreated to center field. Furious, he was ejected and returned to the dugout. Baker was also ejected.

“When Junior called, he walked away,” Baker said. “after that [first base umpire Quinn Wolcott] “Don’t go out there,” he told me. I was like, “Wait a minute.” Stanek was going ballistically, so some explanation was needed. Hey, that’s a tough loser. ”

Roberts, of course, thought Valentine was right.

“That was a balk,” Roberts said. “Obviously you don’t want it to be the decisive blow in a game like that, but they made the right decision. Stanek looked at the pitch clock and was probably about to step out and call a timeout. I think, but the cleat got stuck and I think I did the right thing, it was a balk under the terms of the law and we’re going to accept it.”

Rookie right-hander Bobby Miller suffered a shaky start for the second year in a row, allowing 6 runs and 10 hits in the 4th. But the return of the Dodgers relieved Bobby Miller of his fears. Single in a grand slam to the left field seat.

Miller went 3-0 with a 0.78 ERA in his first two starts, but struggled with 13 earned runs and 17 hits in nine innings against San Francisco and Houston in his last two games. ing.

“You just have to keep the damage down and keep pitching well,” Roberts said of Miller. “He kind of forgot about the secondary pitch and they were putting the ball into play.”

Dodgers starter Bobby Miller pitched well in the first inning against the Astros on Saturday.

(Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press)

The Dodgers bet Miller for a 3-0 lead in the first inning with Smith’s solo homer and Hayward’s two-run homer off Astros starter Ronel Blanco. Blanco then hit the mute button in the Dodgers’ offense and dismissed 15 of 16 hitters through the sixth inning.

Houston narrowed the score to 3-1 in the 3rd inning and scored 5 points in the 5th to lead 6-3. In the Dodgers bullpen, Ryan Brazier allowed a run in the sixth inning, ending an 18-1/3 streak of no runs, but Phil Bickford went 2 innings without a hit and struck out four. Evan Phillips pitched the ninth inning without allowing a run and made his 10th save.

Although the Dodgers only had one hit in the eighth inning, there were plenty of great “team at-bats” in Rojas’ eyes.

“I salute the players who fought for every pitch,” Rojas said. “The whole team is selfishly at bat, not trying to be a hero, and doing their own walks.”