The NL West division champion Dodgers (94-60) were not hungover from the champagne celebrations and defeated the rival Giants (64-89) Friday night at Dodger stadium.
The 8-2 victory evoked memories of the “4+1” game on this date 20 years ago when the Dodgers clobbered four home runs in the bottom of the eighth inning including two sets of back-to-back jacks.
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Mookie Betts has been locked in at the plate of late. Betts greeted Cesar Perdomo with a leadoff home run to give the Dodgers an early 1-0 lead. He would go on to hit a second home run in the eighth to give him 22 on the season, the most he has hit since 2023.
The Giants answered with a Jung Hoo Lee solo home run against Glasnow to tie the game at a run apiece.
Glasnow continued to miss with his fastball, and the Giants made him work. Two singles, a stolen base, and a walk gave San Francisco a 2-1 lead in the third. Although Glasnow’s fastball command wasn’t the sharpest, he struck out a season-high 10 batters on the night.
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Betts got on base for the third time of the night with a single in the fifth inning. Mookie’s hit followed Josue De Paula’s first career hit at Dodger Stadium, a leadoff single. Teoscar Hernández drove in the tying run with the third single of the frame against the rookie left-hander Perdomo.
De Paula impressed in his Dodger Stadium debut. The young phenom drove in the go-ahead run in the bottom of the sixth inning against the San Francisco bullpen with a ringing double to right field. He went 2-for-3 on the night with two hits and a walk.
The Dodgers put on a show with back-to-back home runs twice in the eighth inning. Max Muncy and Kyle Tucker started the homer fest with two booming back-to-back home runs in the bottom of the eighth against lefty Philip Abner.
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The consecutive homers by the Dodgers harkened me back to the 4+1 game on this day in 2006. The Dodgers hit four consecutive home runs in the ninth inning, followed by a walk-off home run for a comeback win against the Padres. That was an electric game 20 years ago, and tonight’s win allowed us to both reminisce about the past and be excited for the upcoming postseason.
Betts hit the third home run of the inning for the Dodgers and the second of the night for the Dodgers shortstop. Then Will Smith followed Mookie with a solo shot of his own for the fourth long ball of the inning to make it 8-2 Dodgers.
It was a perfect opportunity to get Edwin Diaz in the game for the first time in a month. Diaz struck out two and capped off the 8-2 win with a scoreless ninth.
Friday particulars
Home runs: Mookie Betts 2 (22), Max Muncy (29), Kyle Tucker (17), Will Smith (8); Jung Hoo Lee (10)
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WP — Tyler Glasnow (5-1): 6 IP, 3 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks, 10 strikeouts (98 pitches)
LP — Jason Foley (3-2): 1 1/3 IP, 1 hit, 1 run, 3 walks, 1 strikeout (27 pitches)
Up next
The Dodgers and Giants battle again Saturday at Dodger Stadium (6:10 p.m., SportsNet LA). Tarik Skubal (10-7, 2.70 ERA, 0.955 WHIP) makes his final regular season start at Dodger Stadium before he pitches for the Dodgers in the postseason.
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