On Sept. 28, 1997, the Los Angeles Dodgers lost to the Colorado Rockies, 13-9 at Coors Field, but Mike Piazza joined the franchise record books with a two-home run day.
Piazza slugged his first home run off John Thomson in the third inning to give him 39 on the season. He came up again in the fifth inning and slugged his second of the day of Thomson, putting him at an even 40 homers for the year.
With that second home run, Piazza set the single-season record for most in a season by a Los Angeles Dodgers player. The Dodgers franchise home run record was held by Duke Snider, who hit 43 round-trippers for the 1956 Brooklyn team.
Both records have since been passed. Garry Sheffield took the top spot from Piazza and tied Snider with 43 home runs during the 2000 season. Shawn Green currently holds the Dodgers franchise record with 49 home runs in 2001, and Adrián Beltré came close to tying that total in 2004, ending the season with 48.
Cody Bellinger also came close to setting the single-season franchise record when he slugged 47 homers during his 2019 National League MVP season.
Dodgers history: Sept. 28
Orel Hershiser’s scoreless innings record
During the 1988 season, Orel Hershiser broke Don Drysdale’s record by reaching 59 consecutive scoreless innings.
James Loney ties Dodgers single-game RBI record
Also on this day in Dodgers history but in 2006, James Loney helped lead the team to a 19-11 victory over the Rockies, with the game taking place at Coors Field as well.
Loney went 4-for-5 with two home runs and finished the day with nine RBI. He entered the matchup with one homer and eight RBI in 93 previous at-bats, tied the Dodgers franchise single-game RBI record that was previously set by Gil Hodges in his 1950 four-homer game for Brooklyn.
Loney also broke the L.A. club mark that had been held by Ron Cey, who drove in eight against the San Diego Padres on July 31, 1974.
Since then, multiple other players have come close to Loney’s RBI mark, but the L.A. record still stands. A.J. Pollock, Adrián González and Yasmani Grandal all drove in eight runs in a game at one point between the 2015 to 2021 seasons.
Dodgers wins record
In 2022, the Dodgers set what was a franchise record at the time with their 107th win by defeating the Padres. The Dodgers added four more victories that season to raise the franchise record to 111 wins.
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