Mookie Betts and Max Muncy blast away cold streaks in Dodgers’ win over Padres
SAN DIEGO — They were two of the Dodgers’ coldest hitters over the season’s first two weeks.
But on a brisk, breezy Friday night at Petco Park, Mookie Betts and Max Muncy were the biggest sparks in the team’s 6-1 win over the San Diego Padres.
With the Dodgers trailing by one in the fifth inning, Betts and Muncy hit home runs three at-bats apart — Betts sending a solo blast into the second deck in left field to lead off the inning, his first home run of the year; and Muncy giving the Dodgers the lead on a high-arching, solo shot that just cleared the wall in right field with two outs.
They helped the Dodgers pull away down the stretch too — Muncy driving home two runs with a bases-loaded single in the seventh, giving him a season-high three RBIs, and Betts hitting another solo home run in the ninth, giving him his 20th career multi-homer game.
And after they entered night with the lowest batting averages on the team, the evening finished with Betts going two for three with two RBIs and two walks, Muncy going two for three with three RBIs and two walks, and the Dodgers (10-3) joining the New York Mets as the only teams in the majors to reach double-digit wins.
Dodgers lean on Mookie Betts, Max Muncy and Julio Urías in 6-1 win over Padres
David Price pitched the ninth inning for the Dodgers, allowing a deep hit to Eric Hosmer that bounced over the wall in left-center field for a ground-rule double.
From there, Price got Wil Myers to ground out to short before Ha-Seong Kim grounded out to third to end the game.
Mookie Betts hit two home runs, Max Muncy drove in three runs and Julio Urías allowed two hits over five innings to spearhead the Dodgers’ victory, the team’s ninth in 10 games.
⚾ Final: Dodgers 6, Padres 1
Mookie Betts hits his second home run of the game, giving Dodgers 6-1 lead
Top of the ninth: The Mookie Betts slump of 2022 appears to be over. Betts hit his second home run of the night — and of the season — on a solo blast to lead off the inning, giving the Dodgers a 6-1 lead.
Betts has reached base four times tonight and found the left-field bleachers at Petco Park in two or three at-bats. He came into the game reeling after a bad series against the Atlanta Braves. Before Friday, he was batting eight for 45 (.178 average) with two doubles, three RBIs and a team-worst .511 on-base-plus-slugging-percentage.
Betts’ performance tonight could be exactly what he needs to jolt his season into life — a scary thought for the Dodgers’ foes considering how well the team has done despite his struggles.
Dodgers lead 5-1 heading into the ninth inning
Top of the eighth: The Dodgers go down in order, with Padres reliever Craig Stammen striking out Chris Taylor along the way.
Bottom of the eighth: Dodgers reliever Phil Bickford gave up a leadoff single to Austin Nola, but then got Manny Machado on a called third strike after Machado was rattled by a bewildering second-strike call from home plate umpire Ron Kulpa.
After Jake Cronenworth flied out to center, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts gave the ball to San Diego County native Alex Vesia, who struck out Jorge Alfaro to end the inning.
⚾ End of the eighth: Dodgers 5, Padres 1
Dodgers extend lead on hits by Max Muncy and Justin Turner
Top of the seventh: Max Muncy hit a two-run single and Justin Turner drove in another run on a sacrifice fly to give the Dodgers a 5-1 lead.
Muncy hit a bases-loaded liner straight up the middle off Padres reliever Tim Hill to give the Dodgers a 4-1 lead. On the next at-bat, Turner flied out to left to drive in Trea Turner from third.
Mookie Betts drew a leadoff walk to end Nabil Crismatt’s relief stint at 1 1/3 innings before Freddie Freeman singled to left on the first pitch thrown by Hill. With fans at Petco Park chanting “Let’s go Dodgers!” the speedy Turner reached first on slow-moving bouncer up the middle to load the bases with no outs.
Muncy then drove in Betts and Freeman, ending Hill’s brief relief stint. Dinelson Lamet took over as the Padres’ fourth pitcher of the night, giving up the sacrifice fly to Justin Turner.
Bottom of the seventh: Evan Phillips relieved Daniel Hudson to start the frame and struck out Ha-Seong Kim and Trent Grisham as part of a 1-2-3 inning. The Dodgers will face Padres reliever Craig Stammen in the eighth.
⚾ End of the seventh: Dodgers 5, Padres 1
Dodgers hold onto a 2-1 lead heading into seventh inning
Top of the sixth: Chris Taylor drew a walk off Padres reliever Nabil Crismatt, but went nowhere after Padres shortstop Ha-Seong Kim made a leaping grab to rob Gavin Lux of an inning-extending hit.
Bottom of the sixth: Amid chants of “Beat L.A.!” from the Petco Park masses, Dodgers reliever Daniel Hudson got Eric Hosmer to pop out in foul territory behind first base to prevent a potential Padres rally. A throwing error to first by Max Muncy allowed Luke Voit to reach base, but he was left stranded.
⚾ End of the sixth: Dodgers 2, Padres 1
Mookie Betts and Max Muncy homer to give Dodgers a 2-1 lead
Mookie Betts led off with his first home run of the season and Max Muncy hit a solo home run three at-bats later to give the Dodgers a 2-1 lead through five innings.
Betts’ no-doubt-about-it blast to left field — a 420-footer — was his first home run of 2022. Betts has been struggling at the plate, and this home run might be the spark he needs to get his season on track.
Muncy just cleared the wall in right field on a towering popper for his second home run of the season. The hit ended Padres starter Nick Martinez’s night on the mound. Nabil Crismatt took over in relief, forcing Justin Turner into a groundout to end the rally.
Martinez allowed four hits, two earned runs, walked five and struck out four over 4 2/3 innings and 102 pitches.
Bottom of the fifth: Another solid inning for the Dodgers, with Julio Urías punching the air and making a jubilant shout after striking out Manny Machado on a full-count changeup to cap the inning. Urías allowed a leadoff walk to Ha-Seong Kim before retiring the Padres in order.
Urías’ night is over at 75 pitches. He allowed two hits, one earned run, struck out six and walked three — another sparkling performance for last season’s 20-game winner. Daniel Hudson will take over in relief.
⚾ End of the fifth: Dodgers 2, Padres 1
Dodgers trail by a run heading into the fifth inning
Top of the fourth: Will Smith drew the Dodgers’ fifth walk of the game off Padres starter Nick Martinez, but that’s all they could muster.
Bottom of the fourth: It’s a 1-2-3 inning for Julio Urías and the Dodgers. Urías has allowed two hits, an earned run and walked two over 58 pitches so far.
⚾ End of the fourth: Padres 1, Dodgers 0
Julio Urías gets a critical punchout to keep it a one-run game
Bottom of the third: Julio Urías has had a couple of jubilant jaunts off the mound the last two innings after picking up some clutch strikeouts.
In the third inning, he got a gracious punchout call on an outside four-seamer that left Padres designated hitter Luke Voit a bit baffled over umpire Ron Kulpa’s call. It left Manny Machado stranded at first.
Top of the third: The Dodgers squandered a prime scoring chance when Justin Turner grounded into a bases-loaded 6-4-3 double play to cap the frame. Padres starter Nick Martinez, already up to 63 pitches through three innings, walked Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Max Muncy before managing to get out of the jam.
In addition to Betts, Turner also has been struggling at the plate in recent games:
⚾ End of the third: Padres 1, Dodgers 0
Padres jump out to a 1-0 lead in the second inning
Bottom of the second: Wil Myers drove in Jurickson Profar on a fielder’s choice bouncer to short, giving the San Diego Padres a 1-0 lead in the second inning.
Eric Hosmer hit a laser off the wall in right field, but it was hit so hard that it ricocheted right to Mookie Betts, allowing him to limit Hosmer to a single. But the hit did advance Profar, who reached base by drawing a walk on the previous at-bat.
After Julio Urías walked Ha-Seong Kim to extend the inning, he struck out Trent Grisham to get out of the jam. It wasn’t the best inning for Urías, but he managed to deliver under pressure when it mattered most.
Urías had a remarkable outing last week against the Cincinnati Reds after a rough season debut against the Colorado Rockies. Is he capable of winning 20 games again this season?
Top of the second: Chris Taylor hit a two-out single to left, but a Gavin Lux groundout to second ended the frame quickly for the Dodgers.
Lux is back in the starting lineup tonight after back tightness kept him out of the last two games against the Atlanta Braves. Lux is off to a solid start, batting .267 with five RBIs, a home run and nine runs.
⚾ End of the second: Padres 1, Dodgers 0
Julio Urías starts strong, retiring the Padres in order
Top of the first inning: Freddie Freeman singled on a line drive to right field off San Diego Padres starter Nick Martinez, but was left stranded on base when a groundball to Padres shortstop Ha-Seong Kim was flung to second to force out Max Muncy for the third out.
Mookie Betts, who has struggled to find his bat so far this season, popped out to center field to lead off the game. Dodgers beat writer Jack Harris took a close look at Betts’ struggles in his breakdown of the Dodgers-Braves series:
Mookie Betts’ slump worrisome amid the Dodgers besting Braves: Five takeaways
Bottom of the first: Julio Urías retired the Padres in order on nine pitches, striking out Austin Nola on a nasty breaking ball to lead off the game.
⚾ End of the first: Dodgers 0, Padres 0
Mookie Betts’ slump worrisome amid the Dodgers besting Braves: Five takeaways
Twelve games in, the Dodgers couldn’t have asked for a much better start.
They are 9-3, including wins in six of seven games during their first homestand and eight of their last nine overall.
They have won three straight series, earning their most impressive result by taking two of three from the defending World Series champion Atlanta Braves this week.
And they have done it with production on both the mound and at the plate, ranking second in the majors in scoring (5.33 runs per game), second in team ERA (2.38) and first in run differential (plus-32).
Wednesday was one of the Dodgers’ most complete performances yet, a 5-1 win in which they took an early lead, tacked on insurance runs and limited the Braves to three hits.
“That was just one of those games where we can sit back after the game and it puts a smile on your face,” first baseman Freddie Freeman said. “Because that was just a well-played baseball game.”
Dodgers place Blake Treinen on injured list; Gavin Lux returns to lineup
SAN DIEGO — Blake Treinen won’t be returning to the mound this weekend after all.
Ahead of their three-game series with the San Diego Padres, the Dodgers placed their right-handed set-up man on the injured list with right shoulder discomfort.
The Dodgers backdated the start of Treinen’s IL stint three days (the maximum allowed by MLB rules), making him eligible to return April 29.
Treinen hadn’t pitched since April 14 after his arm was “barking” at him following that outing, manager Dave Roberts said this week. Roberts, however, said the team didn’t expect Treinen would need to go on the IL and hoped he’d be available by Friday.
Instead, the team announced the IL move Friday morning and recalled left-hander Garrett Cleavinger to take his place.
Some good injury news for the Dodgers: Gavin Lux is back in the lineup Friday. He had missed the previous two games with back tightness.
Here’s the full lineup, with Julio Urías on the mound against Padres right-hander Nick Martinez:
Cody Bellinger has rediscovered some of his old slugging highs
The chant arose from the upper reaches of Dodger Stadium in the sixth inning Wednesday afternoon, one name, two syllables, familiar cadence.
No, it wasn’t “Fred-die, Fred-die, Fred-die!”
This time, for the first time, it was “Co-dy, Co-dy, Co-dy!”
A season after staring at him in uncomfortable silence, Dodgers fans are once again celebrating Cody Bellinger, and why not?
He’s starting to look like, well, Cody Bellinger.
In an impressive 5-1 series-winning victory over the Atlanta Braves, Bellinger sprinted into a double, sped into a triple, drove in a run and smiled like a kid again.
“I’m just trying to ride the wave,” he said.
Tony Gonsolin’s strong outing leads Dodgers to series win over Braves
As he’d done during Tony Gonsolin’s previous two starts this year, left-hander Tyler Anderson began throwing pitches in the bullpen during the early innings Wednesday.
This time, however, the Dodgers had no need for the bulk reliever.
In a 5-1 win against the Atlanta Braves, Gonsolin produced one of his best career performances.
The right-hander threw six scoreless innings, effectively managing his pitch count in his longest start since 2020. He carried a no-hitter through five innings, and faced more than the three minimum batters in an inning just twice.
On a day the Dodgers (9-3) announced starter Andrew Heaney was being placed on the injured list with left shoulder discomfort — creating an opening in the rotation Saturday that Anderson will fill — Gonsolin alleviated some of the team’s newfound pitching concerns, silencing a talented Braves lineup to help the Dodgers clinch the series with a rubber-match win.
“It was great, obviously with Tony not only preventing runs but being able to take down a big portion of the game,” manager Dave Roberts said. “Where we’re at, knowing we built him up, you don’t necessarily need that piggyback anymore. He can be more of a conventional starter.”
Though Gonsolin had limited damage in each of his first two starts this season, entering Wednesday having permitted just one run on the season, he had struggled to work deep into games. Both times, Anderson spelled him out of the bullpen, pitching multiple innings in each contest.
Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer’s leave extended again by MLB
Major League Baseball on Thursday extended Trevor Bauer’s leave from the Dodgers through April 29, according to a league source.
The leave had been set to expire Friday, although in the interim, Bauer had explored whether that extension had been binding.
Bauer has missed 105 games since the league first put him on leave in July. He could ask for that time to be credited against any suspension as part of a negotiated agreement, but Bauer has maintained he has done nothing wrong and should not be suspended.
How to watch and stream the Dodgers this season
Here’s a rundown of the TV and streaming options for every remaining game on the Dodgers’ 2022 regular-season schedule: