Cody Bellinger made history by slugging his 39th home run and the Los Angeles Dodgers clinched their fifth consecutive and 16th overall National League West title behind a 4-2 win over the San Francisco Giants.
A bunt single and stolen base led to the Giants taking a lead in the first inning. The Dodgers were without a hit against Jeff Samardzija until Logan Forsythe’s one-out double. He entered the night a career 0-for-15 with four strikeouts off the right-hander.
However unlikely it was Forsythe that broke up Samardzija’s no-hitter, Rich Hill’s RBI double that tied the game was all the more improbable. The RBI was Hill’s third this season, while the double was the fourth of his career and first since 2007.
Following a Corey Seager walk that put two on with two outs, Bellinger hit a go-ahead, three-run home run. He broke the National League rookie record for most homers in a single season, surpassing the mark previously held by Wally Berger of the Boston Braves (1930) and Frank Robinson of the Cincinnati Reds (1956).
Hill at one point retired five batters in a row, including four via strikeout. Aside from a shaky first inning that saw plenty of soft contact, his only trouble came in the fourth. Brandon Crawford led off with a walk and Nick Hundley singled, but a lineout and double play ended the threat.
Hill finished with nine strikeouts in six innings of one-run ball. He improved to 3-1 with a 1.65 ERA and 32 strikeouts against five walks in 32.2 innings across six starts against the Giants since joining the Dodgers last season.
Tony Watson stranded a pair of baserunners in the seventh, Josh Fields stranded a two-out single in the eighth, and Kenley Jansen allowed a leadoff home run to Pablo Sandoval but otherwise struck out the side to convert his 40th save to clinch the NL West.
