The Los Angeles Dodgers extended their winning streak to five games with an offensive explosion to defeat the Toronto Blue Jays, 12-2, to begin the weekend series at Rogers Centre.
Shohei Ohtani was the story entering the game as it was his first time traveling to Toronto since the offseason where a few reports suggested he was signing with the Blue Jays. However, those proved to be false, and Ohtani joined the Dodgers on a historic contract.
Ohtani was booed when he first stepped up to the plate, and he ended up giving fans something to truly be upset with as he pulled a solo home run to right field that gave the Dodgers an early 1-0 lead. That also tied Ohtani with manager Dave Roberts for most home runs in Dodgers franchise history by a Japanese-born player.
The Dodgers’ offense broke out in the third inning with six runs, started with a single and stolen base from Mookie Betts, who came around to score on a single from Freddie Freeman.
Between that, Ohtani walked, and he scored on a base hit from Will Smith. With two runners still on, Max Muncy hit his fifth home run of the season, a three-run shot, to extend the Dodgers’ lead to 6-0.
However, the Dodgers weren’t done scoring as Teoscar Hernández singled and stole second base before coming around to score on a base hit by Gavin Lux, capping off the six-run inning.
Smith added the eighth run of the game with a solo home run, just his second of the year. The backstop finished his day 4-for-5 and a triple short of the cycle.
In the fifth, Andy Pages singled and scored on a double from Betts, and a double from Smith in the sixth inning led to another run when the Blue Jays made an error on an infield single from Muncy.
James Outman then singled to put runners on the corners, and Andy Pages hit a sacrifice fly to put the Dodgers up 11-1.
The Dodgers’ 12 runs set a season high.
Gavin Stone turns in strong start for Dodgers
Gavin Stone turned in the best outing of his career. Stone pitched seven innings, giving up just one run on two hits, although he only struck out two and added two walks.
The only run the Blue Jays scored against Stone came in the fourth inning on a solo homer from Danny Jansen.
By finishing off the seventh inning, Stone set his new career high in innings pitched during a single start, surpassing his previous mark of 6.2 innings.
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