The Los Angeles Dodgers extended their winning streak to four games on Tuesday night, slugging out 15 hits in an 8-4 victory in the series opener against the Texas Rangers.
The Dodgers made two big acquisitions before the non-waiver trade deadline to upgrade their lineup, trading for Manny Machado from the Baltimore Orioles and Brian Dozier from the Minnesota Twins.
Those acquisitions are starting to pay dividends as Machado and Dozier combined to drive in six of the Dodgers’ eight runs on the night.
Machado got the scoring started in the third inning when he singled up the middle to drive in two. He also had a sacrifice fly and another RBI single on the night, driving in four total runs.
Dozier also drove in a run with a single in that third inning, but his big swing of the night came on a solo home run in the top of the fifth. The long ball was his 20th of the season, but first since Aug. 9.
Kiké Hernandez was another who had a big game offensively, going 3-for-3 with a walk and sacrifice fly. It was Hernandez’s second straight game with three hits, which equals the number of three-hit games he had through the first 115 games of the season he played in.
The biggest highlight of the night defensively came in the ninth inning to complete the victory. Kenley Jansen was struggling, having already given up two runs. But he got Shin-Soo Choo to hit a comebacker that Jansen fielded behind his back to start a game-ending double play.
