Mookie Betts led a home run barrage that powered the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 9-4 win over Josiah Gray and the Washington Nationals.
The Dodgers made for a long night their first time facing Gray since he was included in a trade last year to acquire Trea Turner and Max Scherzer. Turner’s two-run home run in the first inning gave L.A. their initial lead.
After the Nationals responded with three runs to pull ahead, Betts hit the first of his two home runs to give the Dodgers another lead in the second inning. Chris Taylor added a two-run homer off Gray in the third inning, and Betts greeted Nationals relief pitcher Víctor Arano with a solo shot in the fourth.
That gave Betts a National League-best 12 home runs this season and his 18th career game with at least two long balls out of the leadoff spot. That’s tied with George Spring for second-most in MLB history, just behind Alfonso Soriano’s 19 career multi-home run games as a leadoff hitter.
Walker Buehler struggled his first time through the Nationals lineup, as they went 5-for-8 with one walk and three runs. However, Buehler then resorted to throwing his curveball more frequently and retired 11 batters in a row before walking Juan Soto with two outs in the fifth inning.
Nelson Cruz followed that with a base hit, but Buehler stranded both runners. He wound up allowing just the three runs over six innings and retired 15 of the final 17 batters faced.
The Nationals scored a run against David Price in the seventh but never posed much of a comeback threat.
Betts ties Furcal’s Dodgers record
By scoring a run for the 12th consecutive game, Betts tied the L.A. Dodgers franchise record that had only been held by Rafael Furcal, who accomplished the feat in 2010. Willie Keeler holds the all-time Dodgers franchise record with a run scored in 14 consecutive games.
Betts is expected to be out of the lineup Wednesday.
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