The Los Angeles Dodgers clinched a series victory with a blowout against the Oakland Athletics, backed by four home runs, including the first of the season for Miguel Rojas.
The Dodgers started the scoring early when Freddie Freeman singled to drive in Mookie Betts, who led off with a double. It continued on a bases-loaded infield single from Chris Taylor, and James Outman then grounded into a run-scoring force out, giving the Dodgers a 3-0 lead in the first inning.
Betts then opened the second inning with a solo home run that was crushed, traveling 436 feet — although that still would have been four feet short of earning him bonus time in the Home Run Derby. Betts’ blast nevertheless was enough of a no-doubter that Tony Kemp did not move in left field.
Will Smith followed with a double to drive home Freeman, making the score 5-0. Then, the newly-acquired Amed Rosario continued to make an impact at the plate, hitting his first home run as a Dodger, a two-run shot to give a seven-run cushion.
Strike first, strike hard. pic.twitter.com/e0Zvl0TGJ3
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) August 3, 2023
Mookie no-doubter and Amed’s first homer in blue? So Athletic. pic.twitter.com/AFELP6XhnP
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) August 3, 2023
Miggy goes yard! pic.twitter.com/oKWMzzf6OH
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) August 3, 2023
Snead another homer? J-Hey got you. pic.twitter.com/4h0KnVLVlU
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) August 3, 2023
Victory formation!
Dodgers x @Yaamava pic.twitter.com/kr22iqPOMJ
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) August 3, 2023
The A’s got one back on a home run from Shea Langeliers, but that proved to be their only run of the game.
The home run party continued in the third when Rojas joined with a long ball of his own. It may have been a wall-scraper, but it was a moonshot in the box score, as long as you don’t look at the Statcast data that shows it went 383 feet with an exit velocity of 98.3 mph.
To add insult to injury, Jason Heyward, who has been utilized in a platoon role all season, hit his first homer of the year off a left-handed pitcher in the sixth inning. That put the Dodgers up 9-1 and gave them arguably their two most unlikely home runs of the year in the same game.
Then, in the seventh inning, as if the team needed any more insurance, Kiké Hernández singled home Outman to make the score 10-1, which ended up being the final.
Tony Gonsolin turned in one of his better starts of late as well, but he still was only able to pitch five innings. Following him, Yency Almonte pitched two scoreless, and Alex Vesia and Ryan Brasier each worked a clean inning.
Miguel Rojas home run first in nearly a year
Rojas, who is known for his slick defense at shortstop, does not have great, or even average, offensive skills at the plate.
Over his 10 years at the Major League level, he’s only hit 39 home runs, with a career-high of 11 in 2018. His last came on June 26, 2022 for the Miami Marlins prior to Wednesday night.
The solo shot also marked his second homer with the Dodgers in his career, with his last one coming on July 9, 2014 against Max Scherzer in a 4-1 loss to the Detroit Tigers.
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