The Los Angeles Dodgers opened up their final regular-season series of the year with a win over the San Francisco Giants, scoring early and late to cruise to a 9-2 victory.
Cody Bellinger continued to make his case to be voted National League MVP as he led off the second inning with a towering home run to right field, his 47th of the season. He finished the game 2-for-3 with a walk and needs three home runs to break Shawn Green’s franchise record.
One pitch after Bellinger’s homer, Corey Seager hit one to almost the same exact spot for his 19th of the season. The back-to-back home runs marked the 17th time the Dodgers have done that this season, which set a National League record.
The Major League record is 18, leaving Los Angeles two games to potentially tie or break it.
The Dodgers wound up scoring five runs in that second inning to break the game open. Will Smith followed Seager’s home run with a walk and then he scored on an RBI triple by Gavin Lux, the first of his young career.
Joc Pederson capped off the rally by launching a two-run home run into McCovey Cove. Pederson is putting the finishing touches on a career year in style, homering four times in his last four games to give him 36 for the season.
The scoring picked up in the eighth inning for the Dodgers when they tacked on four more runs. Smith and Kiké Hernandez each hit two-run singles to cap off the offensive outburst.
With Friday night’s win, the Dodgers improved to 104-56 on the season, which tied the Los Angeles record for wins set in 2017.
If the Dodgers are able to sweep the Giants and reach 106 wins then that would surpass the current franchise record of 105 set by the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1953.
