The Los Angeles Dodgers began a four-game road trip against the Colorado Rockies with a 9-5 win, backed by a strong performance from James Paxton and contributions from the top and bottom of their lineup.
Paxton pitched seven innings, giving up just one run on two hits with one walk and eight strikeouts. His strikeout total set a season-high for the left-hander, surpassing his previous mark of five.
Paxton’s only run allowed was a solo home run in the second inning off the bat of Jacob Stallings.
He now owns a 3.65 ERA across 66.2 innings this year, striking out 43 hitters with a 1.31 WHIP. The process has not always been pretty as Paxton has struggled with walks during the season, but he has been an excellent signing to solidify the back end of the Dodgers’ rotation.
Without Mookie Betts, Shohei Ohtani stepped up into the leadoff role with a three-hit night. He went 3-for-4 with one run scored, one RBI, one walk and a stolen base.
Miguel Rojas also had a great game as the shortstop, going 3-for-5 with two runs scored and one RBI.
The Dodgers started their scoring in the first inning when Teoscar Hernández doubled home Freddie Freeman. They doubled the lead in the second when Ohtani singled home Rojas, and Will Smith followed with an RBI-triple, making the score 3-0.
They added some insurance in the seventh when Rojas doubled home Jason Heyward. A single from Cavan Biggio scored Rojas to make it a 5-1 game.
The Dodgers broke the game open in the eighth when Heyward singled home Freeman and Ohtani, giving them seven runs in the game.
Gavin Lux drove in the eighth run of the game with a double to bring home Biggio. With Lux’s hit, that made it so all nine Dodgers’ starters reached base in the game.
Will Smith hit a sacrifice fly in the ninth to drive in another run.
J.P. Feyereisen, who was recalled on Sunday, pitched the final two innings, allowing four runs on two homers and two doubles.
Freddie Freeman ties Dodgers’ walk record
Freeman took five plate appearances through the first eight innings, but did not register an at-bat as he worked five walks. That tied the Dodgers’ single-game record, which was last done by Max Muncy in 2021.
It. has been done by four other players in Dodgers’ history: Greg Brock (1983), Dusty Baker (1980) and Gene Hermanski (1949).
Freeman got another chance in the ninth, and the Rockies finally prevented him from walking. Freeman singled instead.
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