Clayton Kershaw surrendered a season-high three home runs but notched his 166th career win to break a tie with Sandy Koufax, and Cody Bellinger reached 100 RBI as the Los Angeles Dodgers put a 16-3 shellacking on the Toronto Blue Jays in their first visit to Dodger Stadium since 2007.
Bo Bichette connected for the first leadoff home run of his career and slugged another off Kershaw in the sixth inning for a first multi-homer game. At 21 years and 168 days old, the Bichette became the youngest player ever to have a multi-home run game against a former MVP.
While the impressive rookie made history, the Dodgers opened up a comfortable lead behind their own power display.
Home runs from A.J. Pollock and Will Smith, along with Corey Seager’s two-run double, produced a five-run third inning that erased a 2-0 deficit. Cody Bellinger’s three-run double extended the Dodgers’ lead to 8-2 in the fourth inning.
It gave him 100 RBI this season, the first Dodgers player to reach that benchmark since Adrian Gonzalez in 2014. The extra-base hit also produced a light-hearted moment as Bellinger’s pants fell down on his attempt to leg out a triple.
Home runs from Max Muncy and Chris Taylor in the sixth inning put the Blue Jays in a bigger deficit. The homer was Muncy’s 32nd this season and extended his streak to four consecutive games with a longball.
Taylor went 3-for-4 and tied a season high with four RBI in his return from the 10-day injured list, while Kiké Hernandez was just 1-for-5. However, Hernandez was part of the Dodgers turning three double plays early in the game.
They aided Kershaw in getting through six innings, which he has now done so in each of his 22 starts this season. The Dodgers backed Kershaw with Caleb Ferguson, Dylan Floro and Yimi Garcia each throwing one scoreless inning.
