Jim Cella
LOS ANGELES—Laker legend Kobe Bryant was honored before the game on Sunday on what would have been his 42nd birthday. His presence was felt during the game as the Mamba’s numbers played a significant role in the Dodgers’ 11-3 romp over Colorado.
Corey Seager homered on the eighth (Kobe’s original number with the Lakers) pitch of the Dodger’s opening at-bat. Mookie Betts homered on the 42nd (Kobe’s 42nd birthday) at-bat for LA. Kiké Hernández went yard on the 62nd (Kobe’s second highest point total was 62 points vs. the Mavs) pitch for the Dodgers and capped it off with a “Kobe” fadeaway jumper celly. Cody Bellinger hit his eighth homer of the year, Los Angeles won by eight and rookie pitcher Victor González, who wears No.81 (Kobe’s single-game point total was 81 vs. Toronto), recorded his first major league victory.
Opposing teams might want to take note and not play the Dodgers on Aug. 23 ever again.
Overall, Los Angeles showcased its MLB-leading home run power by blasting a season-high seven long balls to earn the win – and the series sweep. The Dodgers never trailed in the game as they posted their seventh straight victory at Chavez Ravine. It was also 11th overall “W” in their last 12 games. LA is now 22-8 at the halfway point of the 60-game season. They own the best record in baseball and have a 4.0 game lead in the NL West.
GAME RECAP: The high humidity and breeze blowing out turned Dodger Stadium into Coors Field on Sunday. The teams combined for 10 long balls in the game, and all but one of the 14 runs came via the homer. The teams traded solo shots in the first 3.5 innings before the Dodgers put the game away with nine consecutive runs.
Seager started the home run derby when he got underneath the eighth pitch of the first inning and sent it into the breeze. It carried over the left-center field fence to give LA a 1-0 lead. Trevor Story returned the favor with a solo shot in the top of the third. Mookie Betts put Los Angeles back in front with a 1-run bomb in the third and then Ryan McMahon held service with a monster 29-foot shot in the top of the fourth.
The game, and the 1-run homer theme, changed with two outs in the bottom of the fourth. Joc Pederson lined a 2-1 fastball into center field and Max Muncy was able to get on board with an infield single that nearly missed the glove of first baseman Daniel Murphy. Hernández came through with the only multiple-run homer of the game when he lofted a 1-1 fastball into the right-center stands which drove in the game-winning run.
Bellinger would hit a solo shot in the sixth followed by, newly activated, Will Smith going yard with no one on in the seventh. Betts scored the only non-homer run of the game later in the seventh when he scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of AJ Pollock. Maxy Muncy and Betts would go deep in the eighth before Sam Hilliard capped the scoring with a 1-run homer in the ninth.
GAME HIGHLIGHTS:
ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH: The Dodgers have now beaten the Rockies in 16 of their last 17 games at Chavez Ravine. LA’s sweep was the fourth time in the past two years they have swept the Rox in a series and they now own a 23-4 record against Colorado since the end of the 2018 season.
SERIES SWEEP STUFF: It was the fourth series sweep of the year for the Dodgers but first against a National League opponent. LA had previously put the broom on the Asterisks, Angels and Mariners. It was also the second 3-game sweep of the year (Angels).
OBSCURE STAT OF THE DAY OR GOOD AT THE GETAWAY: The Dodgers are now 9-1 in the last game of a series this year. They have outscored their opponents by a combined total of 59-23 in those games. The 11-spot on Sunday marked the second time in 2020 that LA has scored “bones” in the series finale (Aug. 13 vs. San Diego).
DODGER STADIUM DOMINANCE RETURNS: It took a while, but the Dodgers have finally evened up their away and home win totals for the year. LA started the season 4-5 at home, have now rattled off seven straight and are 11-5 at Dodger Stadium. That evens the “W” total on the road where they are 11-3. The Dodgers have the most away wins of any team in the majors and are tied for fourth in home victories.
STRIPLING SLINGS JUST ENOUGH: Ross Stripling started the game for LA and lasted 4.0 innings, gave up six hits and two earned runs – both via the long ball. Stripling didn’t have a 1-2-3 in the game, faced 20 batters and threw 64 pitches. He hasn’t gone longer than 5.2 innings in his last five starts which followed his first start of the year when he went 7.0 innings and earned the win vs. San Francisco.
VICTOR THE VICTORIOUS: Gonzáles was the first of four relievers who pitched on Sunday and he went the longest to earn his first career MLB victory. He lasted 2.0 innings, didn’t allow a run, gave up a lone hit and struck out a pair. Gonzáles has now thrown 4.0 consecutive scoreless innings since his MLB debut on July 31.
POWER, POWER, POWER: So many home run stats for the Dodgers on Sunday, such limited space to highlight them all. The seven home runs hit by LA is a team high for the season and most by an NL team this year. They overtook San Diego who hit six long balls on Aug. 9 vs. Arizona and their own mark of six which they had against San Diego on Aug. 13. The Dodgers also added to their MLB lead in long balls for the year. They have 59 which is an average of 1.97 per game. Last year they were fourth in MLB with a 1.72 HR/game average. Los Angeles now has four players with at least seven homers in 2020 and Mookie Betts became the first Dodger with a double-digit HR total. He cranked balls out in the third and eighth innings to record his second multi-homer game in the last 10 days. Betts leads LA with 11 dingers which is tied for second in MLB.
HE SAID IT: “We like it when it’s warm here.”— Kiké Hernández to Tim Neverett on all the home runs on Sunday
HE SAID IT 2: The ball was definitely carrying. It was a good day to be playing.”—Mookie Betts to Tim Neverett on the optimum conditions for hitting home runs on Sunday.
DOMINANT DIFFERENTIAL: Not only have the Dodgers been dominant in the win/loss column in 2020, they are also obliterating their opponents when it comes to run differential. The 8-run difference on Sunday brings Los Angeles’ run-differential total to +79. The next closest is Minnesota who is at +40.
DOMINANT DIFFERENTIAL 2: This year’s ability to outscore opponents by a wide margin continues an 8-year trend. Since they won their first of seven NL West titles in 2013, LA is outscoring their opponents by 1,063 runs. The next closest team is Cleveland who is at 793.
BELLI IS BANGIN’: Don’t look now NL & AL West, but Bellinger has morphed back into the 2019 MVP Bellinger. He went 1-for-4 on Sunday and connected on his eighth homer of the season. He has a 5-game hitting streak and during his last 10 games he is hitting .314 (11-for-35), has hit six homers, driven in 10 runs and has 30 total bases. He has also gone deep four times in the last five games.
WELCOME BACK WILL: Smith returned to the diamond for the first time since Aug. 12 when he went on the IL due to a neck injury he suffered in a collision at the plate. Smith went 1-for-3, hit a homer and scored twice on Sunday.
ON DECK: Los Angeles will head north to take on San Francisco for their first series of the season at Oracle Park. The Dodgers are 4-3 against the Giants this year. San Fran has righted the ship as of late. They have won six straight and are 14-16 in 2020. They would get one of the wild card spots for the playoffs if the season ended on Sunday. The Dodgers are scheduled to pitch Julio Uriás in the opener on Tuesday at 6:45 p.m. He will go up against Johnny Cueto. Uriás is 2-0 with a 2.74 ERA and a 1.261 WHIP while Cueto is 2-0 with a 4.35 ERA and a 1.129 WHIP. Cueto is coming off a win over the Angels where he struck out a season-high eight batters and gave up two runs in 5.2 innings.
