The Kansas City Royals made their first appearance at Dodger Stadium since 2003, and faced the Los Angeles Dodgers for the first time since dropping two of three games at Kauffman Stadium in 2014.
Kansas City entered play Friday night with a four-game winning streak and winners in 18 of their past 24 games. Los Angeles had won a modest three in a row and 23 of their past 27 games. While the Royals took a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning, the Dodgers came away with another win.
Logan Forsythe tied the game in the bottom of the fourth by slapping an RBI single by a diving Eric Hosmer at first base.
Later in the inning, Corey Seager lined a base hit into right field to score Kenta Maeda from second base and give the Dodgers a 2-1 lead. Yasiel Puig added to it in the bottom of the sixth with a solo home run.
The homer was Puig’s 16th this season, which matched his total from an All-Star campaign in 2014 and left him three shy of tying a career-best mark set as a rookie in 2013.
Then in the eighth inning, Chase Utley’s RBI double provided one last bit of insurance for the Dodgers in their 4-1 victory. The RBI was the 1,000th of Utley’s career, making him just the ninth active player to reach the plateau.
Utley wasn’t available for much comment following the win, as he looked to avoid the Friday Night Fireworks traffic at Dodger Stadium. “Sorry guys,” Utley said as he rushed into and back out of the clubhouse. “Gotta go. Fireworks!”
When asked for a quick thought on the milestone as he briskly walked down the hallway, Utley shouted back, “Lots of good teams.”
