Dodgers go on home run spree, tie MLB record
When a team smacks seven baseballs out of the park in a game, it would seem safe to assume they would score 10, maybe even 15, runs.
For the Los Angeles Dodgers, they needed every one of those seven jacks on Sunday to beat the New York Mets in an 8-7 shootout Sunday.
All seven of those homers were solo shots, tying an MLB record in the post-1900 era (last matched by the Chicago White Sox in 2016 against the Blue Jays) for most solo home runs in a single game.
The Dodgers defeated the Mets thanks to 7 solo home runs, tying the single-game record by a team in the Modern Era (since 1900).
The Dodgers and Mets also combined for 9 HR today, the most combined HR in any game this season. pic.twitter.com/u08pTLqLaC
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) June 24, 2018
The fun started early for Los Angeles, as Kiké Hernandez (pronounced “kee-kay”) and Max Muncy led off the game with back-to-back jacks to put the Dodgers up 2-0 while fans were still finding their seats at Citi Field.
Hernandez hit another homer later in the game, and Cody Bellinger also socked a pair of solo smacks.
Because even though they hit six home runs in the first nine innings, the Dodgers couldn’t put the Mets away in regulation.
Instead, in the 11th inning, Justin Turner, came to bat as a pinch hitter and slammed one over the fence to secure the victory, leaving New York fans disgusted again by the 31-44 Mets’ patchwork excuse for a pitching staff.
.@redturn2 vs. his former team?
Advantage: Turner. pic.twitter.com/3USsQF8pZc
— MLB (@MLB) June 24, 2018
Meanwhile, the Dodgers have been hotter than a Santa Ana wind in the summertime, winning for the 25th time in their last 34 games after a terrible 16-26 start that looked nothing like the team that took the Houston Astros to seven games in the World Series last year.
The Dodgers may be on fire, but when you need seven homers to beat a bad team, you lucked into one.
L.A.’s franchise record for homers in a game is eight, set in a 16-3 win over the Brewers on May 23, 2002.
Meanwhile, the snakebitten Mets were in the opposite position; they scored seven runs, mounted an eighth-inning comeback, and lost because they gave up seven homers.
“We just can’t sync up exactly what we’re trying to do every day,” Mets manager Mickey Callaway said. “If we swing the bats, we give up seven homers. If we pitch and swing the bats good, our defense isn’t quite there.”
Hernandez, meanwhile, summed up the Dodgers’ fortunes.
“We had a lot of injuries, a lot of bad luck and nothing was going our way,” Hernandez said. “Slowly things started to turn around. It was just a matter of time because if you look at our team, even now that we’re doing really good, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t have the record we have now.”
Talk about two teams going in opposite directions.
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