The Los Angeles Dodgers had a historically great first inning that propelled them to a 14-3 win over the St. Louis Cardinals in the finale of their homestand. Cody Bellinger matched a career high with six RBI.
Paul Godlschmidt’s solo home run off Walker Buehler gave the Cardinals a lead, but the first inning and night otherwise belonged to the Dodgers. St. Louis starter Carlos Martinez didn’t record an out until facing Buehler, and by then the game had already started to slip away.
Justin Turner’s RBI single pulled the Dodgers even, and Bellinger driving in a pair on his base hit put them ahead. Gavin Lux plated Bellinger with a long single off the wall and some good fortune as the Cardinals’ throw to the plate bailed out the Dodgers of a baserunning blunder.
Zach McKinstry kept the line moving with an RBI single and Betts produced the same in his second at-bat. The inning was then capped off by Bellinger’s grand slam against Cardinals reliever Jake Woodford, whose first three pitches were all for ball.
The Dodgers sent 14 batters to the plate, collected seven hits, drew four walks and had one stolen base en route to scoring 11 runs.
In addition to matching his overall career high, Bellinger set a Dodgers franchise record with six RBI in one inning. As a team the Dodgers’ 11 runs in an inning were their most in L.A. franchise history for the regular season.
They also reached that total during Game 3 against the Atlanta Braves in the 2020 National League Championship Series.
Prior to Wednesday, the last time the Dodgers scored 11 runs in an inning during the regular season was on Aug. 8, 1954 when Brooklyn did it in the eighth inning against the Cincinnati Redlegs. The last time the franchise had 11 runs in the first inning was May 21, 1952, also against the Reds.
The 11 runs are the most a team has scored in any inning so far this season as well.
The Dodgers’ only other scoring after the big inning was on Buehler’s two-run double and a Betts RBI single in the third.
Buehler, offense saves Dodgers bullpen
After helping his cause at the plate, Buehler proceeded to get through six innings. He allowed seven hits, including a pair of home runs, and three runs. Buehler’s eight strikeouts were his most since May 11.
With the game seemingly in hand, the Dodgers turned to Edwin Uceta for multiple innings, but not a three-inning save. The rookie nevertheless is likely to get optioned this weekend when Jimmy Nelson returns from the 10-day injured list.
Alex Vesia struck out the side in the ninth inning to finish the win.
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