Five years ago, the Dodgers made a trip to Minnesota, and got annihilated in a three-game sweep at the Metrodome. They scored seven total runs and had 17 total hits in those three games, and tonight they blew that all out of the water. In their first ever visit to Target Field, the Dodgers bludgeoned the Twins 15-0 in a 25-hit attack.
On a dark day off the field, everything went right for the Dodgers on the field tonight:
- The 15-0 margin was tied for the second-most lopsided shutout since 1919. The Dodgers shutout the Padres 19-0 on June 28, 1969. The other 15-0 game was at Ebbets Field against the Phillies on August 16, 1952.
- The last time the Dodgers had a margin of victory this large was September 2, 2002, a 19-1 win in Arizona that featured Mark Grace pitching, and giving up the first career home run by David Ross.
- The Dodgers had 10 different people with an RBI for the first time since September 2, 2002.
- The Dodgers had nine different people with two or more hits (after Andre Ethier's reach on an error in the fourth inning was changed to a hit), the most since May 19, 2006.
- Tony Gwynn Jr., Matt Kemp, and Trent Oeltjen all had four hits, the only time since 1919 (the first year of available game logs on Baseball-Reference.com) that all three Dodgers outfielders had at least four hits in the same game.
- Oeltjen needed a double for the cycle in the ninth inning, but settled for a single, though he made a hard turn toward second base before pulling up and smiling toward the dugout
- Kemp blasted his league-leading 22nd home run, a 444-foot shot in the seventh inning
- For the first time in LA Dodgers history, every member of the starting lineup had at least one hit, one run, and one RBI
- The 25 hits by the Dodgers were the most since they had 25 safeties against the Angels on May 19, 2006.
- The Dodgers also had 19 singles tonight, the most since hitting 19 singles in that 2006 game against the Angels.
- The Dodgers scored 34 runs during their 12-game homestand. They have scored 36 runs in their last three road games.
- At Dodger Stadium, the Dodgers are averaging 2.98 runs per game and are hitting .239/.297/.337
- On the road this season, the Dodgers average 4.97 runs per game and are hitting .282/.349/.418
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Chad Billingsley pitched six shutout innings for his second straight win
- Dodger relievers Blake Hawksworth, Hong-Chih Kuo, and Scott Elbert struck out seven of the 10 batters they faced. The only Twin to reach base off the pen was Ben Revere, who reached on a fielding error by Dee Gordon in the ninth.
Ted Lilly gets the call Tuesday -- in a night game, huzzah! -- against Brian Duensing, in a battle of southpaws in the second game of the series.
WP - Chad Billingsley (7-6): 6 IP, 4 hits, 2 walks, 4 strikeouts
LP - Nick Blackburn (6-6): 4 1/3 IP, 13 hits, 8 runs (7 earned), 1 walk, 1 strikeout