Pederson homers twice; Dodgers hold off Pirates, 8-7

PITTSBURGH — Joc Pederson went deep twice, Cody Bellinger hit his third home run in as many games and the Los Angeles Dodgers used nine pitchers to hold off the Pittsburgh Pirates 8-7 in National League baseball action Thursday night.

Pederson led off the game with a solo blast off Jameson Taillon (3-5) and added a two-run shot in the eighth off Michael Feliz for his second multi-home-run game in a week. Bellinger finished

3 for 4, including a shot just over the wall in left field in the sixth to give the Dodgers a three-run advantage, and a stream of relievers made it stand as L.A. won for the 15th time in its past 20 games to move back to .500 (31-31).

Daniel Hudson made his first start since 2015, working only the first inning, after the Dodgers scratched rookie Dennis Santana from what would have been his first major-league start. Santana experienced tightness in his right side during his pre-game routine.

Pedro Baez (3-3) picked up the win by getting six outs — the most by any of the pitchers Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts summoned from the bullpen. Kenley Jansen worked around a pinch-hit homer by Francisco Cervelli in the ninth to collect his 15th save in 17 opportunities.

Taillon, coming off his first win in nearly two months, allowed three runs in five innings. Elias Diaz hit his fourth home run and drove in four for the Pirates, and Cervelli’s homer pushed his total to a career-high nine. Josh Harrison had two of Pittsburgh’s nine hits, but it wasn’t enough to keep the Pirates from losing their sixth consecutive series while dropping to .500 (31-31).