After taking two out of three from the Boston Red Sox to begin the second half of the season, the Los Angeles Dodgers continued their strong play as they slugged 19 hits in the series opener against the Philadelphia Phillies to cruise to a 16-2 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.
All eight Dodgers position players that started the game had at least one hit, one run scored and one RBI. And as usual, it was the leading National League MVP candidate, Cody Bellinger, who led the way.
Bellinger earned the fourth multi-home run game of the season and 11th of his career, finishing 4-for-6 with four runs scored and a pair of RBI. The two home runs, one of which went to right and the other to center field, gives Bellinger 33 on the season.
That moved him past Milwaukee Brewers star Christian Yelich for the Major League lead.
As has been the case a lot this season, Max Muncy also had a strong showing at the plate. He went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBI. Muncy hit a solo home run in the seventh inning to go back-to-back with Bellinger and give him 24 on the year.
The final home run of the night for the Dodgers came in the top of the eighth inning and off the bat of Alex Verdugo. The rookie is not known to be a power hitter, but he now has 11 homers to go along with a .311 batting average after a 3-for-6 performance.
Clayton Kershaw took the mound in his first start out of the All-Star break and tossed six innings of one-run ball to earn his eighth victory of the season. He struck out seven while walking two and allowing just four hits.
Kershaw has now gone six or more innings and allowed four or fewer earned runs in all 16 of his starts this season.
