Cody Bellinger has not fared well in his career against Yu Darvish, which left him wanting to have a ‘simple’ approach that in turn produced a home run off the San Diego Padres starter. Bellinger later slugged a second homer to help the Los Angeles Dodgers complete a series sweep.
It was the 15th career multi-home run game for Bellinger, and second this season with both coming against the Padres. Thus, Bellinger made Dodgers franchise history by becoming their first player with two multi-homer games against the Padres in a single season.
Bellinger previously slugged a pair of homers in the Dodgers’ 10-2 win at Petco Park on April 24. That was at the end of a stretch that saw the 27-year-old earn National League Player of the Week honors for the fourth time in his career.
On Sunday, Bellinger’s first home rung ave the Dodgers a 1-0 lead in the third inning. His second blast — hit to nearly the identical spot in left-center field and off Luis García — extended it to 3-0 in the seventh.
Furthermore, Bellinger became the Dodgers’ first No. 9 hitter with two home runs in one game since Darren Dreifort on Aug. 8, 2000.
“I guess it adds pretty good length, I’d imagine,” Bellinger said of hitting last in the Dodgers lineup. “I think it doesn’t really matter all too much where you hit on this team. So just head down, focus on what I need to do and that’s all I focus on, and feel good doing it.”
Bellinger picks Red Hot Chili Peppers for Dodgers’ ‘club dub’
A Dodgers tradition this season is celebrating home wins with music playing from a DJ set and accompanied by a fog machine and strobe lights to create “Club Dub” inside the clubhouse.
In June, Bellinger attributed the setup to Mookie Betts’ vision.
On Sunday, he was asked for his music choice after the type of win the Dodgers had.
“Oh, man, I don’t know,” Bellinger began. “Whatever is on the radio. I’ll split through all the stations, you know? Maybe some Red Hot Chili Peppers. I’ve been kind of on them lately after Walker went to the concert, so I say Red Hot Chili Peppers.”
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