The Los Angeles Dodgers overcame the stuff from Paul Skenes and the fluctuating weather conditions to take the series opener against the Pittsburgh Pirates 12-3 on Tuesday. 

In four career starts against the Dodgers, Skenes has recorded a 3-1 record and an ERA below three with 33 strikeouts across 23.1 innings. 

But Skenes was in the midst of a bad stretch of starts, losing his last three consecutive outings and posting an ERA north of five in that stretch. 

Skenes managed to give up just two earned runs in six innings against Los Angeles, striking out seven in the process. 

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts noted that the amount of traffic they produced against Skenes following a two-run first by the Pirates was a great sign. 

Also added that, situationally, getting Skenes out of the game by the sixth inning was "a big feat."  

Max Muncy proved to be the only Dodgers hitter that had the right-handers' number, as he went a perfect 3-for-3 day at the plate, including the game-tying RBI single in the sixth inning. 

Once Skenes' day on the mound was complete, the Dodgers pounced on the Pirates' bullpen arms. 

They greeted right-hander Wilber Dotel in the seventh inning by tacking on four earned runs — highlighted by Andy Pages' two-run shot — and knocked him out without recording an out in the inning. 

Overall, the Dodgers put up a 10-spot in the seventh to separate them from Pittsburgh, which was capped off by a Freddie Freeman RBI single to make it a lopsided 12-2 hole for the Pirates.

That RBI hit marked career number 2,500 hits for Freeman. 

In the postgame media meeting, Freeman was reflective of not only the impressive milestone, but the importance that the Dodgers as an organization put on Freeman's accomplishments in his tenure with Los Angeles. 

"When you're going through the course of 162, every single day is the same. The grinding, doing whatever you can," Freeman said. "So when you have an organization that steps back and takes time to appreciate what you've done over the course of your career, it does help you take a moment for a second."

Roberts had a simple message for Freeman moving forward. 

“Go get 500 more.”

Eric Lauer took the mound for Los Angeles in his third start with the new club. 

Despite Lauer giving up back-to-back home runs in his first inning of work, he bounced back from the ambush. 

Lauer would give up just one hit following the pair of home runs and went 5.2 innings, striking out five. 

"I just had to calm myself down, refocus a little bit, and focus on executing the rest of the game," Lauer said on his outing. "I think I was pretty efficient after that." 

When it came to the head-to-head matchup against the reigning Cy Young Award winner, Lauer believes that he kept up. 

"I think I held my own pretty well against him."

With the win, the Dodgers improve to a 43-24 record. 

Shohei Ohtani will take the mound and act as a two-way player, according to Roberts.

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