The Los Angeles Dodgers went into their Fourth of July matchup against the San Diego Padres having won nine straight games at home, with the last five coming in walk-off fashion. Unfortunately, the latter of those streaks came to an end.
The reason it came to an end was still positive, however, as the Dodgers did not require a walk-off to defeat the Padres, 5-1, to earn their 10th straight home victory.
Max Muncy, who was snubbed of an All-Star roster spot this past week, got the scoring started in the bottom of the second inning. He launched a solo home run that went into the loge section down the right-field line for his 21st home run of the season.
Los Angeles then added to that in the fifth inning when they loaded the bases thanks to patient hitting. They scored a pair of runs when Joc Pederson was hit by a pitch and Alex Verdugo hit a sacrifice fly.
All of those runs were more than enough for the National League All-Star starter Hyun-Jin Ryu, but Cody Bellinger added some more insurance with a solo home run in the bottom of the sixth. The homer was Bellinger’s third in his last two games and 30th on the season.
He became just the second player in NL history under the age of 25 to hit 30 homers before the All-Star break.
Meanwhile, Ryu turned in another great performance on the mound. He tossed six shutout innings, allowing just three hits while striking out five and walking three. He earned his 10th victory of the season and lowered his Major League-leading ERA to 1.73.
JT Chargois closed out the win with one of his best appearances of the season. He struck out all five batters faced in dominant fashion.
Having previously become the first team this season to 20, 30, 40 and 50 wins, the Dodgers now are the first to reach 60.
