The Los Angeles Dodgers chased Mike Foltynewicz early and set a season high with five home runs to start their homestand with a 12-1 win over the Texas Rangers. The road loss was a 16th in a row for the Rangers.
Max Muncy opened the scoring with a two-run home run, which Justin Turner followed by also taking Foltynewicz deep. It marked a fourth time this season the Dodgers have hit back-to-back homers. Gavin Lux capped off the big inning with a three-run home run.
While the Dodgers jumped out to an early lead, it wasn’t all positive as Muncy was removed after the first inning due to right side tightness. Muncy already had been nursing a right ankle issue that he and the Dodgers are not fully sure of the type of injury it is.
L.A. added to their lead in the third inning behind an RBI double from Lux and Clayton Kershaw helping his cause by driving a run in on a base hit. Home runs by Albert Pujols and Will Smith in the fourth put the Dodgers in double-digit scoring, and the lead grew on Cody Bellinger’s RBI single and a sacrifice fly from Chris Taylor in the fifth.
However, Bellinger was removed after his at-bat and on his way off the field appeared to indicate it was due to a cramp. The Dodgers later announced Bellinger exited due to left hamstring tightness.
Kershaw bounced back from consecutive outings in which he allowed five runs to hold the Rangers to just one — unearned — over six innings. “There’s really nothing in the sequence or delivery,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said before the game.
“It’s more of just being victim of that big inning. With Clayton, when he gets two outs, usually you put an end to the inning, and that just hasn’t happened in two separate innings in different ballgames.
“If you look at the body of work over the collection of innings, it’s been really good and there’s been a lot of zeros. But again, victim of that one big inning. He’s an easy guy to bet on that can kind of minimize damage if it does get to that.”
The Rangers didn’t have a baserunner until Charlie Culberson’s leadoff double in the third inning, which Kershaw followed by striking out the next three batters. He then recorded four strikeouts in the fourth inning, tying a Dodgers franchise and MLB record.
Dodgers get Nelson work
Jimmy Nelson was reinstated from the 10-day injured list at the beginning of the road trip last week but hadn’t appeared in a game until June 4. Roberts prioritized getting Nelson into the series opener, and he pitched a scoreless seventh inning.
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