Mookie Betts continued his torrid hitting from the leadoff spot as his two home runs carried the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 9-3 win over the Kansas City Royals in the series opener at Kauffman Stadium.
Betts opened the game by tying a Dodgers franchise record with his ninth leadoff home run this season. The mark is shared with Joc Pederson, who slugged nine leadoff homers during the 2019 season.
Betts clubbed another solo home run in the third inning that extended the Dodgers’ lead to 2-0. After that was cut in half, Jason Heyward’s RBI double helped get the run back and Betts contributed a two-out single to bring in another.
The back-and-forth scoring continued in the bottom of the fourth and into the fifth inning as J.D. Martinez answered the Royals’ run with a sacrifice fly.
Heyward collected his second RBI of the night with a single in the seventh inning, and the Dodgers proceeded to break the game open in the eighth.
Miguel Rojas started the outburst with a leadoff double that was followed by an extra base-hit from Betts as he improved to 4-for-4 on the night. Freddie Freeman then made it a third double in a row to bring in Betts, and David Peralta later added a sacrifice fly.
Daniel Hudson returns to Dodgers bullpen
Bobby Miller didn’t have his sharpest outing as he struggled to put hitters away but still managed to pitch into the sixth inning.
Miller to that point had only allowed two runs and was on the verge of getting through the sixth but allowed a run-scoring single that knocked him out of the game.
Caleb Ferguson recorded three outs and Yency Almonte retired his only batter faced. Daniel Hudson then entered in the eighth inning for his 2023 debut and worked a scoreless frame.
Nick Robertson was optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City and the Dodgers designated Ricky Vanasco for assignment in order to activate Hudson off the 60-day injured list.
Justin Bruihl pitched the ninth inning to finish off a scoreless night for the bullpen.
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