Despite a late-inning comeback attempt, the Los Angeles Dodgers dropped their series opener against the Philadelphia Phillies 9-7, however, Cody Bellinger was still able to move up their record books.
In the third inning, Bellinger put the Dodgers on the board with a solo home run to right-center field off Zack Wheeler that cut their deficit to 4-1. The ball was hit a mile high in the air at 102 mph with a launch angle of 36 degrees, and it ended up traveling 386 feet as it cleared the fence.
It was the 138th homer of Bellinger’s career, which broke a three-way tie he was in for 19th on the Dodgers all-time home runs list.
Bellinger’s fifth long ball of the season put him in sole possession of 19th, ahead of Jackie Robinson and Mike Marshall, who each ended their Dodgers careers with 137 homers. Overall this season, Bellinger is already halfway to matching last year’s home run total.
Bellinger entered the game 4-for-11 with four home runs and five strikeouts against Wheeler and he finished his day going 1-for-3 against the Phillies’ ace.
For Wheeler, it was his first start back from the COVID-19 injured list. Prior to the game, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts praised the right-hander’s ability and said the Dodgers were in for a challenge.
“Wheeler’s back from being inactive, we’ve got our hands full,” Roberts said. “This guy’s got a huge arm. He’s got a big fastball, and we’ve got to be ready tonight.”
The Dodgers ended up scoring three runs off Wheeler, who pitched 5.1 innings and struck out seven. Wheehler finished second in the 2021 National League Cy Young voting last season with 12 first-place votes and 10 total points behind Milwaukee Brewers’ ace Corbin Burnes.
“He was spinning the ball a little bit more than he usually does with the slider,” Chris Taylor said. “He was locating that down and away pretty good.”
L.A. scored two in the sixth and four in the eighth to tie the game 7-7, but the Phillies added two in the ninth off Daniel Hudson to secure their win.
All-time Dodgers home runs list
1. Duke Snider – 389
2. Gil Hodges – 361
3. Eric Karros – 270
4. Roy Campanella – 242
5. Ron Cey – 228
6. Steve Garvey – 211
7. Matt Kemp – 203
8. Carl Furillo – 192
9. Mike Piazza – 177
10. Pedro Guerrero – 171
11. Raul Mondesi – 163
12. Andre Ethier – 162
12. Shawn Green – 162
14. Willie Davis – 154
15. Adrian Beltre – 147
16. Justin Turner – 144
16. Dusty Baker – 144
18. Dolph Camilli – 139
19. Cody Bellinger – 138
20. Jackie Robinson – 137
20. Mike Marshall – 137
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