The Los Angeles Dodgers’ hot hitting continued on Friday night in their series opener against the Atlanta Braves, as the team slugged five home runs en route to a 7-3 victory.
Yasmani Grandal got it started in the bottom of the second inning, taking former teammate Brandon McCarthy deep to straightaway center field to extend the Dodgers lead to 2-0. He then came up in the fourth and hit another home run, almost to the same exact spot in center field.
Grandal’s second blast ensured that the Dodgers hit multiple home runs for the seventh straight game, which tied a franchise record.
Joc Pederson and Max Muncy then got in on the action in the bottom of the fifth by hitting back-to-back home runs to extend the lead to 5-1. For Pederson, it was his sixth home run in his last 18 at-bats across six games, dating back to the recent road trip.
Both Pederson and Muncy have been catalysts at the top of the lineup in recent weeks. Pederson raised his season on-base plus slugging percentage to .868, while Muncy is at .934.
They are not the only Dodgers left-handed batters that are enjoying success at the plate, as Cody Bellinger hit a moonshot solo home run in the bottom of the eighth inning. Bellinger was slumping going into the team’s series in Pittsburgh but has since gone deep in four straight games.
Walker Buehler got the start on the mound for the Dodgers and it looked like it could be another special night for him as he retired the first 12 batters faced. He gave up a run in the fifth inning and wound up having to leave the game with rib soreness in the sixth, further complicating the Dodgers rotation moving forward.
The win put the Dodgers over.500 at 32-31 for the first time in almost two months. They are now tied for second place in the National League West, 1.5 games out of first.
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