Dodgers make it a day to remember with Negro Leagues museum visit and 12th consecutive win
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A day brimming with an appreciation for the past eventually had the Dodgers cherishing the present and peering excitedly into a future that gets more promising with every game. Call it a win, win, win.
History lessons abounded, but not the dry, academic kind. These, by all accounts, were gripping and profoundly meaningful tales.
Saturday morning was spent touring the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum while listening to the captivating narration of museum president and master storyteller Bob Kendrick.
From the exploits of Satchel Paige and Cool Papa Bell to the Negro League debuts of future major league Hall of Famers Hank Aaron, Roy Campanella and Willie Mays, to the shocking segregation and second-class treatment of the teams and their fans from 1920 to 1960, Kendrick emphasized that the story of the Negro Leagues “isn’t about adversity. It is about what they did to overcome that adversity.”
Dodgers defeat Royals for their 12th consecutive win
For the first time since 1976, the Dodgers have won 12 consecutive games.
Behind a six home-run effort, the Dodgers clinched their series with the Kansas City Royals in a 13-3 victory Saturday at Kauffman Stadium.
Mookie Betts, Will Smith Gavin Lux, Max Muncy, Joey Gallo and Cody Bellinger each hit home runs. Muncy went 4 for 5 at the plate, driving in four runs and Betts went 3 for 4 with two runs scored.
Phil Bickford (2-1) got the win. Starter Andrew Heaney exited the game early after sustaining a left arm contusion on a comebacker. He managed to pitch after taking the hit but was taken out after three innings.
The Dodgers (79-33), who are 46 games over the .500 mark, will wrap up their series against the Royals (47-68) on Sunday at 11:10 a.m. PT.
Joey Gallo and Cody Bellinger hit back-to-back home runs
Joey Gallo joined the list of Dodgers home-run hitters in the ninth inning, clobbering a Nicky Lopez pitch 437 feet into the Kansas City night to give the Dodgers a 12-3 lead.
On the next at-bat, Cody Bellinger blasted out his 16th home run of 2022 to give the Dodgers a 13-3 lead.
Six different players have hit home runs for the Dodgers tonight as the team moves to the cusp of its 12th consecutive win — Hanser Alberto will pitch the ninth for the Dodgers.
Mid-ninth: Dodgers 13, Royals 3
Royals cut into the Dodgers’ lead
Kansas City’s Brent Rooker hit a run-scoring double off Dodgers reliever Phil Bickford to make it 11-3 Dodgers in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Ryan O’Hearn led off the frame with a double to right field off Chris Martin, which ended Martin’s stint on the mound. O’Hearn scored on Rooker’s hit.
Michael Massey then flied out to center field and Bickford struck out Nate Eaton to end the inning.
End of the sixth: Dodgers 11, Royals 3
Dodgers drive in another run in the sixth inning
Max Muncy picked up his third hit of the game on a run-scoring double off Royals reliever Carlos Hernandez to give the Dodgers an 11-2 lead in the sixth inning.
Freddie Freeman drew a leadoff walk and scored on Muncy’s hit into the right-field corner.
Mid-6th: Dodgers 11, Royals 2
Max Muncy homers into the Kauffman Stadium fountain
Max Muncy splashed his 14th home run of the season into the Kauffman Stadium water fountain in center field, giving the Dodgers a 10-2 lead in the fourth inning.
After Will Smith singled to center field, Muncy crushed a two-run blast off Royals reliever Carlos Hernandez for the Dodgers’ fourth homer of the game.
Caleb Ferguson took over on the mound for Andrew Heaney in the bottom of the fourth inning. Heaney took a liner off his left arm in the third inning, but completed the frame. He allowed three hits, two earned runs and struck out five over three innings.
End of the fourth: Dodgers 10, Royals 2
Gavin Lux hits solo home run to extend Dodgers’ lead
Gavin Lux hit a solo home run to right-center field to give the Dodgers an 8-2 lead in the third inning.
Lux’s fifth home run of the season was the third given up today by Royals starter Brad Keller.
Three at-bats later, Mookie Betts picked up his third hit of the game before Keller struck out Trea Turner to limit the damage.
Mid-third: Dodgers 8, Royals 2
Royals cut into the Dodgers’ lead in the second
Kansas City’s Michael Massey hit a two-run triple off the wall in left-center field to make it 7-2 Dodgers in the second inning.
Dodgers starter Andrew Heaney struggled in the second inning, allowing a double to Huntington Beach’s Nick Pratto before hitting Brent Rooker with a pitcher. After Massey’s first MLB triple, Heaney struck out Nate Eaton to cap the frame.
Heaney stands at 45 pitches.
End of the second: Dodgers 7, Royals 2
Will Smith hits two-run home run to give Dodgers 7-0 lead
Will Smith hit his 17th home run of the season — a 423-foot no-doubter into the Dodgers’ bullpen — to give the Dodgers a 7-0 lead in the second inning.
Royals starter Brad Keller is having a miserable time trying to prevent the Dodgers from winning a 12th consecutive game. He has allowed two home runs and seven hits and seven earned runs.
Mookie Betts, who opened the inning with a single, scored on Smith’s home run.
Mid-second inning: Dodgers 7, Royals 0
Freddie Freeman makes spectacular catch as part of 1-2-3 inning
Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman showed off his fielding prowess with a remarkable, over-the-shoulder sliding catch on a popup hit by Kansas City’s Bobby Witt Jr.
Freeman managed to track the ball while sprinting through foul territory before sliding with a outstretched arm to snag the ball, much to the relief of Dodgers starter Andrew Heaney.
End of the first: Dodgers 5, Royals 0
Mookie Betts leads off with home run; Dodgers jump out to 5-0 lead
Mookie Betts hit his 35th career leadoff home run, cranking out a 97-mph fastball from Kansas City Royals starter Brad Keller to right field to give the Dodgers a 1-0 lead.
It was Betts’ 26th home run of the season.
The Dodgers didn’t stop with Betts’ homer. Trea Turner followed with a single before Freddie Freeman and Will Smith walked to load the bases.
Max Muncy, Justin Turner and Gavin Lux followed with consecutive RBI singles, giving the Dodgers a 4-0 lead with zero outs on 30 Keller pitches. Muncy then scored from third on a Keller wild pitch to make it 5-0.
The Royals only got out of the inning when an overly optimistic Justin Turner tried to score from third on a Cody Bellinger pop out, only to be tagged out at home on dead-eyed throw by left fielder Brent Rooker.
It took the Dodgers more than six innings Friday to score their first run. The quest for their 12th consecutive win has gotten off to a better start.
Mid first inning: Dodgers 5, Royals 0
Dodgers, Royals to wear throwback uniforms to honor Jackie Robinson’s debut in 1947
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — It’ll be the 2022 Dodgers vs. the Kansas City Royals ton Saturday night at Kauffman Stadium, make no mistake.
But both teams will wear uniforms that honor the 75th anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier.
The Dodgers will don Brooklyn uniforms from 1955, the year “Dem Bums” won the World Series. The Royals will wear the uniforms of the Kansas City Monarchs, a prominent Negro League team that Robinson played for in 1945.
All game-used jerseys, hats, batting helmets and more will be auctioned off at royals.com/auction and dodgers.com/auction with the proceeds going directly to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Mo.
The Dodgers toured the Museum on Saturday morning.
ICYMI: Tony Gonsolin flirts with perfection as Dodgers turn winning streak up to 11
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Put this guy in pictures. Kansas City Royals reliever Josh Staumont entered a pristine game in the seventh inning and the Dodgers promptly lit him up with four hits and a walk en route to an 8-3 victory Friday night.
Staumont retired no one and all five runners scored, saddling him with an ERA that was pure Buzz Lightyear: To Infinity and Beyond!
Dodgers starter Tony Gonsolin reached for the stars himself, carrying a perfect game into the sixth inning and a no-hitter into the seventh. He retired the first batter in the seventh but surrendered two hits and a run before being removed after issuing his third walk in two innings.
Still, Gonsolin improved to a rather remarkable 14-1, his ERA dipping to 2.24 as the Dodgers won their 11th straight game. The right-hander took a 1.62 ERA into the All-Star Game, but yielded 12 earned runs in his first three starts since then before throwing five scoreless innings in his last start. It appears he has returned to form.
How to watch and stream the Dodgers this season
Here’s a look at the Dodgers broadcast and streaming schedule for the remainder of the 2022 regular season: