Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, Teoscar Hernandez and Jason Heyward homered in a seven-run sixth inning and the Los Angeles Dodgers rolled to a 15-2 victory over the visiting Texas Rangers on Tuesday.
Will Smith added a three-run home run, Mookie Betts hit a three-run double and James Paxton gave up one run over six innings as the Dodgers improved to 9-4 following a season-worst, five-game losing streak late last month.
Ezequiel Duran hit a home run as the Rangers lost for the fifth time in seven games. Texas starter Dane Dunning (4-5) gave up six runs over 3 2/3 innings, while Grant Anderson yielded all seven runs in the sixth inning while recording two outs.
Former Dodger Corey Seager missed his fourth consecutive game for the Rangers due to a left hamstring strain.
In the Dodgers’ first inning, Ohtani walked and stole second, Freeman singled and Smith hit a towering fly ball that just cleared the wall in left for his 10th home run and a 3-0 lead.
The Rangers got a run back in the second inning on a sacrifice fly from Duran.
Betts’ three-run double in the fourth inning against Jonathan Hernandez was followed by an RBI single from Gavin Lux in the fifth as Los Angeles took a 7-1 advantage.
In the sixth, Ohtani hit a two-run home run, his 16th, and Freeman followed immediately with his ninth homer. A single by Smith was followed by a home run from Teoscar Hernandez, his 17th of the season and fourth in the past three games for a 12-1 lead.
After Andy Pages singled with two outs, Heyward hit a blast over the Rangers’ bullpen in right for a 14-1 lead. The last time the Dodgers hit four home runs in an inning was on September 29, 2021, when Seager hit the last of those blasts against the San Diego Padres.
Duran hit a two-out shot for the Rangers in the seventh off Michael Grove, his second. Miguel Vargas brought home the Dodgers’ last run on a sacrifice fly in the seventh.
Paxton (6-1) allowed two hits and two walks while striking out two as he rebounded from his worst start of the season. He gave up seven runs (six earned) in 1 2/3 innings against the Pittsburgh Pirates on last Wednesday.
–Field Level Media
