Steve Webb
Game 68, 6/11/2024: Dodgers 15, Rangers 2
CHAVEZ RAVINE, CA — When the Dodgers’ braintrust put together this year’s lineup, nights like these were what they had in mind: a relentless offensive assault simply grinding the opponent into fine dust. The Dodgers whacked five home runs (FOUR in one inning) as they completely annihilated the defending World Series champs, beating the Texas Rangers by a lopsided score of 15-2. It. Was. Awesome.
James Paxton got the start for the Dodgers, and he was what James Paxton usually is: adequate. Actually, he was better than adequate, allowing only two Ranger hits over six innings of work. On 87 pitches, his line was solid: 6.0 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K. And that was more than sufficient for him to secure his 6th W of the season.
The reason Paxton coasted to a win was the unrelenting attack of the Dodger hitters. It started off early, with a Will Smith three-run shot in the bottom of the first. Then, in the fourth, Mookie Betts came up very clutch (always nice to see) with a two-out, base-clearing double that pushed the Dodgers’ lead to 6-1.
Gavin Lux came through in the fifth with his second hit of the game to push the Dodgers’ seventh run across the plate. And if that wasn’t awesome enough, may I introduce you to the bottom of the sixth? It was a clinic in power. The Dodgers sent nine hitters to the plate, plating seven runs along the way. The inning started quietly enough, with a Miguel Rojas popout and a Mookie Betts walk. But then, hooboy, Katie bar the door! Shohei Ohtani blasted a 433-foot majestic shot to center to score two. Freddie Freeman followed it up by going oppo with a solo shot to make it 10-1.
But wait! There’s more. After Will Smith singled for his third hit of the day, Teoscar Hernandez dug in fresh off his NL Player of the Week honors. And, natch, he went yard as well, bashing a two-run dinger to the home run seats in left center. And then, to put the cherry on top of the sundae, Jason Heyward finished up the scoring with an absolute rocket over the visitors’ bullpen in right. And just like that, it was 14-1. A Texas-sized whoopin’!
There was one more run scored by each team the rest of the way, but it hardly mattered. Rangers skippper Bruce Bochy waved the white flag early and let a position player pitch the last 1.2 innings. It was an easy win to get the homestand off to a spectacular start. Hot dog!
The Dodgers go for the series win on Wednesday as Walker Buehler takes to the mound looking for more progress as he works his way back to form. He’ll face off against former Rockie Jon Gray (2-2, 2.12) who’s always held his own against the Dodgers when he was in the NL West. Game time is 7:10 pm. See you at the yard!
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