The Los Angeles Dodgers’ bats came alive for the second straight night as they slugged out 13 hits, including eight doubles in their 7-2 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates to earn a series victory at PNC Park.
The eight doubles fell one shy of matching a franchise record but did set a new all-time mark in Los Angeles history.
Joc Pederson got the offense started early for the Dodgers when he led off the game with a ground-rule double off Joe Musgrove. He then quickly scored on an RBI single by Corey Seager. Pederson now has one double, a triple and three home runs in his career against Musgrove.
Max Muncy contributed to the outburst by going 2-for-5 with two doubles. One of those came in the top of the third as he drove one into the left-center field gap and then scored on a single by Cody Bellinger.
Perhaps the best inning for the Dodgers was the top of the fifth when Muncy, Seager and Bellinger began the inning with three straight doubles on the first four pitches that Musgrove threw.
Hyun-Jin Ryu even got in on the action in the fourth when he hit an RBI double off the right-center field wall. Ryu missed his first career home run by inches.
Ryu brought a 31-inning scoreless streak into the game, and while he saw that snapped in the second inning, he still turned in another quality start to earn his seventh victory of the season.
Ryu was able to work in and out of trouble all night long, allowing 10 hits and two runs while striking out three in six innings of work.
He finished his outing by escaping a jam in the bottom of the sixth inning, and that was made possible by an outstanding leaping catch at the right-field wall by Bellinger. Perhaps the leading MVP candidate in the National League, Bellinger has proven this season that he has the ability to impact a game in a variety of ways.
