With nothing left to play for, the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Colorado Rockies, 13-2, in the penultimate game of the regular season.
Earlier in the day, the Philadelphia Phillies lost to the Washington Nationals, which guaranteed the Dodgers will finish with the best record in MLB this season and taking away all meaning from their final two games.
Still, both Yoshinobu Yamamoto and the Dodgers’ offense had a strong day as they get their final tuneups in before the playoffs begin on Oct. 5.
Kiké Hernández started the scoring for the Dodgers with a three-run homer in the second inning after a single from Will Smith and walk to Tommy Edman. That made it a 3-1 game, and L.A. never looked back.
Mookie Betts doubled in the third inning and came around to score on a passed ball. In the fourth, Smith walked and stole second before coming around to score on a single from Kevin Kiermaier that made it a 5-2 game.
Ohtani and Gavin Lux walked in the fifth before both scored when Teoscar Hernández blasted a three-run homer to break the game open to 8-2. That was Hernández’s 33rd home run of the season, setting a new single-season career-high for the veteran outfielder.
Smith drove in the ninth run of the game with a single in the eighth after a single from Chris Taylor and double from Lux.
In the ninth, Taylor and Lux both drove in runs with singles, putting up three-hit days for each of them. Max Muncy also doubled to drive in a pair of runs with the bases loaded.
Yamamoto pitched five strong innings, giving up two runs on four hits with six strikeouts and no walks.
The Rockies scored first on a sacrifice fly from Ryan McMahon following a pair of singles to open the game by Charlie Blackmon and Ezequiel Tovar. They scored their other run on a solo home run by Tovar in the third inning.
Overall, it was a great start for Yamamoto, especially considering it was a game pitched at Coors Field. His next start will come in the National League Division Series, likely in Game 2.
Justin Wrobleski pitched the final four innings, earning the save without allowing a run.
Dodgers remove Kevin Kiermaier after finger injury
As Kiermaier slid into the second base bag in the fourth inning, left index finger jammed into the base. After being tagged out, he laid on the field for an extended period before getting up and walking with Dodgers manager Dave Roberts and head trainer Thomas Albert to the dugout while holding his finger.
Kiermaier was replaced by Andy Pages in center field at the start of the next half inning. The Dodgers have not yet announced the specifics of the injury.
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