Newcomers Lance Lynn & Kiké Hernández get Dodgers a win on trade deadline day

LOS ANGELES — Maybe the Dodgers didn’t finish the trade deadline as strong as they would have wanted, but a few of last week’s moves paid off handsomely in Tuesday night’s 7-3 win over the Oakland A’s at Dodger Stadium.

Lance Lynn, acquired Friday from the White Sox, gave up three home runs in his Dodgers debut, which couldn’t have been surprising since his 31 homers on the season are most in the majors. But they were all solo shots, and Lynn didn’t give up anything else in his seven innings, the longest outing by a Dodgers starting pitcher since June 20.

“He’s a bulldog, a competitor. He wants the ball,” said Freddie Freeman. “It’s nice to have him on our side.”

Lynn struck out seven on the night, and was allowed a long leash because his pitch count was low — he finished with only 93 pitches in his seven frames — and he never trailed.

“He’s just been battle tested,” manager Dave Roberts said. “There’s some responsibility, when you’ve been around a lot longer, you earn more. It’s part of your job.”

“I made a couple mistakes, pitches I want back,” Lynn said. “But we won the game, so it’s all good.”

The game was scoreless until the fourth inning, when a pair of two-out walks by A’s starter Ken Waldichuk loaded the bases. James Outman was hit by a pitch for the game’s first run, then Kiké Hernández — acquired last Tuesday from the Red Sox — doubled into the gap to plate three runs.

Hernández has four hits in 13 at-bats since rejoining his old team, including two doubles. He started at second base and center field before starting Tuesday night’s game in left field, the versatility the Dodgers have craved since he left as a free agent after the 2020 season.

While in left field on Tuesday, he helped out Lynn by tracking down a ball in foul territory to end the sixth inning.

After a horrific July that saw Dodgers starters post their worst ERA in 79 years while averaging 5.02 innings per start, getting seven innings out of Lynn on the first day of August was a welcome sight. Especially so since it came on the first day of a stretch of 13 games in 13 days for the Dodgers.

Notes

After two home runs in the seventh inning trimmed the Dodgers’ lead to just one run, the offense got those two runs back in the bottom of the inning, on Mookie Betts’ team-leading 28th home run and a bases-loaded walk by Outman, who drove in two runs with the bases loaded on Tuesday without putting the ball in play in those plate appearances.

They tacked on another run in the eighth on a Betts double and Freeman single, Freeman’s fourth hit of the game. Freeman also stole his team-leading 14th base of the season, setting a career high. “I’m fast,” Freeman jokingly reminded reporters around his locker in the clubhouse after the game. Though he did say Outman, who is second on the team with 12 steals, will eventually pass him.

Chris Taylor walked four times, tying his career high set on May 2, 2017 against San Francisco.

Tuesday particulars

Home runs: Mookie Betts (28); Zack Gelof (4), Brent Rooker (18), Jordan Diaz (7)

WP — Lance Lynn (7-9): 7 IP, 5 hits, 3 runs, 1 walk, 7 strikeouts

LP — Ken Waldichuk (2-7): 3⅔ IP, 1 hit, 4 runs, 3 walks, 5 strikeouts

Up next

The Dodgers send Tony Gonsolin to the mound on Wednesday night (7:10 p.m., SportsNet LA), with the A’s starting Hogan Harris, the second of three straight left-handed pitchers starting for Oakland in this series.