Cody Bellinger continues hot start, Dodgers win 10-6

Cody Bellinger continued his hot start to the season, Max Muncy fell a double short of the cycle, and the Dodgers defeated the Rockies 10-6 on Friday afternoon.

The offense

The Dodgers tacked on a run in the third thanks to an RBI single from Corey Seager. Russell Martin led off the inning with a single, and then advanced over to second on a sacrifice bunt from Kenta Maeda. With two outs, Seager took the first pitch of the at-bat to center, bringing in Martin from second.

Muncy connected for his second homer of the season in the fourth, giving the Dodgers a lead they wouldn’t relinquish for the rest of the day. For the game, Muncy finished just a double short of hitting for the cycle. He went 3-for-4 with three runs driven in on the afternoon.

A walk from Enrique Hernandez and single from Seager would put two on in the fifth for Justin Turner. He doubled on the first pitch he saw, bringing in Hernandez and giving LA the two-run lead.

Bellinger stepped up to the plate next, wasting no time. He connected for his major-league leading sixth home run of the season, giving the Dodgers a 6-2 lead. His 16 RBI also lead baseball as well.

Getting in on the home run fun an inning later was Martin. He hit his first homer as a Dodger since 2010. Speaking of homering as a Dodger, he’s already the 10th different member of the team to hit a homer so far this season.

Muncy made it 9-1 Dodgers in the seventh with a two-RBI triple. It was the fourth triple of his career.

The pitching

Going only five innings, Maeda was able to work himself out of some potential jams. In the third inning, Nolan Arenado stepped up to the plate with the bases loaded and no outs. He got Arenado to fly out, and followed it with a double play, escaping the inning having allowed only one run.

Maeda found himself in another potential jam in the fifth inning. Though he had a five-run lead, the Rockies looked poised to tack on some runs. With the bases loaded and two outs, Trevor Story was at the plate. Maeda threw him three straight strikes, including an 85 mph slider that caught Story looking to end the inning.

For the game, Maeda struck out four and allowed one run on four hits. He wouldn’t go out for the sixth, being removed after making 91 pitches.

Brock Stewart came in to pitch the seventh, looking to write off some of his poor outing he’s had so far this year. He still couldn’t seem to figure things out, allowing three runs on three hits in ²⁄₃ of an inning. On the young season, Stewart has allowed eight runs in only four innings of work.

After two rough outings to begin his Dodgers career, Joe Kelly came in and made it through only one batter. He took a line drive off his glove, and exited after only one out. Yimi Garcia allowed two home runs in ²⁄₃ an inning of work, but secured the Dodgers victory.

Friday particulars:

WP: Kenta Maeda (2-0) 5 IP, 4 SO, 1 ER

LP: Tyler Anderson (0-2) 4 IP, 6 ER, 9 H, 2 SO

Home runs: Max Muncy (2), Cody Bellinger (6), Russell Martin (1), Trevor Story 2 (3), David Dahl (1)

Up next

Walker Buehler (0-0, 15.00 ERA) will look to improve on his first outing, as he’ll face Jon Gray (0-1, 4.05 ERA). First pitch is tomorrow at 5:10 pm P.T. on SportsNet LA.