After a rough stretch in which they lost two straight games to the Miami Marlins and the series opener to the San Francisco Giants on Friday night, the Los Angeles Dodgers bounced back in a big way in the first game of their doubleheader on Saturday.
Their offense exploded for 15 runs and 20 hits, getting going early against Giants starter Chris Stratton, resulting in a 15-6 victory.
Given how much the Dodgers offense had been struggling on the season to that point, manager Dave Roberts was happy with how his team performed on the afternoon, as seen on SportsNet LA:
“It was a great day offensively. Up and down the lineup, you see the at-bats they were taking, they were using the big part of the field, they were taking walks and you could see Stratton didn’t have his stuff early on. To get him at 40 pitches in the first inning and get him out of there early and get into their bullpen, stress those guys out, it was huge for our offense.”
The Dodgers top five hitters in the lineup, Chris Taylor, Chase Utley, Corey Seager, Cody Bellinger and Joc Pederson did most of the damage, combining to go 16-for-26 with four walks, 11 runs and 13 RBI.
The runs and hits were a season-high for the Dodgers. Additionally, they set a franchise record by taking 27 at-bats with runners in scoring position. They recorded 12 hits in those at-bats, which has to please the Dodgers coaching staff.
Great as their afternoon performance was, the Dodgers regressed after taking an early lead Saturday night, resulting in a split of the doubleheader at AT&T Park.
