James Outman hit a home run in his first Major League at-bat and along with Cody Bellinger, combined to lead the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 7-3 win over the Colorado Rockies. The Dodgers won three of four at Coors Field and next face the San Francisco Giants on their road trip.
Starting in right field and batting ninth for his MLB debut, Outman gave the Dodgers a lead with a two-run home run in the third inning. He became the eighth player in Dodgers franchise history to hit a home run in his first career plate appearance.
Outman, Keibert Ruiz (2020), Garey Ingram (1994) and Jose Offerman (1990) are those who have done so since the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles.
Outman’s homer was quickly erased, however, beginning with Brian Serven leading off the bottom of the third inning with a home run. Tony Gonsolin then worked himself into trouble by hitting a batter and issuing a walk.
Those were followed by a dribbler up the third-base line that stayed just fair and Randal Grichuk hit a two-run single to put the Rockies ahead.
The Dodgers responded in the fourth, aided by Grichuk misplaying a ball in right field. Cody Bellinger was credited with an RBI double, and the second run scored on Grichuk’s error. The Rockies committed seven errors during the series, which amounted to four unearned runs for the Dodgers.
Gonsolin bounced back from his rocky third inning to retire the final six batters faced. He was removed at 92 pitches over five innings of work.
The Dodgers’ bullpen protected the lead, which was extended with one run in each of the sixth, seventh and eighth innings. Included in that was an RBI double from Outman. He became the first Dodgers rookie with at least three hits in his MLB debut since Mike Piazza in 1992.
Outman also joined Ernie Koy (1938) and Offerman as the only Dodgers with a home run and three hits in his first career game. Outman additionally is the first player in L.A. Dodgers franchise history with three hits and three RBI in his MLB debut. Packy Rogers did so for Brooklyn in 1938.
Dodgers record in July
The Dodgers closed the month with an MLB-best 21-5 record in July, which was aided by two winning streaks of at least seven games. The Dodgers’ 21 wins tied a franchise record for a single month and are their most since the 2017 team produced that same amount in June.
The Dodgers’ .808 winning percentage in July is the second-highest in franchise history for one calendar month.
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