Mookie Betts and Max Muncy homered during a six-run first inning and the Los Angeles Dodgers rolled to an 8-4 victory over the visiting New York Yankees on Friday in the opener of a three-game series.
Betts added a second home run amid a four-hit night and J.D. Martinez also went deep, extending his hitting streak to 16 games, as the Dodgers came out on top in the duel of historic franchises who were facing each other for the first time since 2019.
Dodgers left-hander Clayton Kershaw (7-4) matched his season high with nine strikeouts over seven innings while allowing two runs on four hits and one walk. Freddie Freeman went 0-for-5 as his 20-game hitting streak came to an end.
Josh Donaldson hit two home runs and Giancarlo Stanton also hit one for the Yankees as they each returned from long stints on the injured list caused by hamstring issues.
Yankees right-hander Luis Severino (0-1) was tagged for seven runs on nine hits over four innings with a walk and two strikeouts.
Betts started the hosts’ early offensive exploits with his 21st leadoff home run as a member of the Dodgers and the 41st of his career. Muncy added a two-run home run three batters later for a 3-0 lead before a James Outman RBI single and a sacrifice fly from Miguel Rojas made it 5-0.
Betts batted for a second time in the opening inning, delivering an RBI single to left for a 6-0 advantage.
Donaldson hit a home run off Kershaw in the second inning in his first at-bat following a nearly two-month stint on the IL.
Martinez hit a home run in the third to give the Dodgers a 7-1 lead before Stanton crushed a homer to left in the fourth. It was Stanton’s 10th in 24 career games at Dodger Stadium, in addition to one in last season’s All-Star Game at Los Angeles.
Betts’ second home run of the game, and 15th of the season, came in the sixth for an 8-2 lead.
Donaldson’s second home run was a two-run shot with one out in the ninth inning off right-hander Phil Bickford.
–Field Level Media
