Will Smith further fueled the endless references he’s drawn to his Hollywood namesake, as his first career multi-home run game helped lead the Los Angeles Dodgers in a 15-1 blowout of the Miami Marlins.
The Dodgers reached 80 wins, though weren’t the first team to do so as the New York Yankees bested them by nearly an hour. Instead they settled for the being the first National League club to that mark and additionally became the first in the league with 200 home runs this season, which they have now done so in three consecutive years.
With six hit on the night, the Dodgers have 203 homers this season. They fell shy of their season-high eight home runs hit on Opening Day but set the MLB record for most in a game in Marlins Park history. It was previously held by the Colorado Rockies, who hit five on June 20, 2016.
Before the home run barrage came a leadoff double by A.J. Pollock in the second inning, which led to a run and the Dodgers taking a 1-0 lead. Pollock went 3-for-3 with doubles in each of his at-bats prior to being removed in the sixth inning. The three-double game marked a career first for the veteran outfielder.
Pollock’s second double was followed by a two-run homer from Corey Seager in the third inning. Smith followed with the first of his two long balls, giving the Dodgers back-to-back home runs for a 12th time this season.
To that point Smith broke Cody Bellinger’s Dodgers franchise record with 24 RBI in his first 23 games, and tied for most home runs (eight) during that span. Smith’s two-run blast in the sixth inning then gave him sole possession of both franchise records.
Floodgates opened in the blink of an eye in the seventh, as Kyle Garlick and Max Muncy hit consecutive doubles, and Justin Turner and Bellinger connected on back-to-back home runs that traveled a combined 836 feet.
Bellinger’s home run gave him 39 on the season, tying a career high and pulling even with Christian Yelich and Mike Trout for the MLB lead. Matt Beaty added a solo blast in the eighth inning and three-run triple in the ninth, and Garlick tacked on an RBI single.
The prolific display of offense overshadowed what was yet another encouraging start for Dustin May. In his third career outing and first on the road, the rookie right-hander looked comfortable as ever.
May not only was perfect through three innings, he was efficient en route to earning his first win. A leadoff walk in the fourth led to a run for the Marlins, which was all May allowed through 5.2 innings.
He exited responsible for a runner at third base, but was picked up by Joe Kelly. That was followed by JT Chargois and Caleb Ferguson each pitching one inning. Russell Martin took care of the ninth, with Adam Kolarek playing first base.
