The Los Angeles Dodgers returned to Dodger Stadium on Monday night and produced one of their best offensive performances of the season, slugging seven home runs and 17 hits in a 16-9 victory over the Colorado Rockies.
Joc Pederson hit the first of those seven home runs with a leadoff shot in the bottom of the first inning. Pederson made the most of his three at-bats on the night, hitting two home runs and a double off the top of the wall, driving in five runs in the process.
The 27-year-old is up to 30 home runs on the season for the first time in his career. Pederson also had a highlight play in the field, robbing Charlie Blackmon of a home run in the fifth inning.
However, he was forced to leave the game after running into the wall, but was later diagnosed with an abdominal contusion and isn’t expected to miss much time.
The other Dodger to homer twice on the night was Chris Taylor, to give him 11 on the season. He became the 11th Dodgers player to reach the double-digit mark in home runs, which is a new franchise record. That’s also the most for a National League club.
Taylor’s second longball came after Cody Bellinger’s in the seventh inning as the duo went back-to-back. Bellinger is once again the MLB leader in home runs with 44 and is only five away from tying Shawn Green’s franchise record of 49 set in 2001.
The final two home runs of the night came off the bats of Corey Seager and Matt Beaty. They both had strong nights at the plate as Seager finished 2-for-5 with four RBI, and Beaty went 2-for-4 with three RBI.
Monday night also marked the MLB debut of Dodgers top prospect Gavin Lux. He didn’t waste any time collecting his first career hit as he lined a single to center on the first pitch he saw in the bottom of the second.
Lux also doubled in his second at-bat, finishing 2-for-5 with three runs scored. Per Stats LLC, Lux is the first Dodgers player in the live-ball era to score three runs in his MLB debut.