Rojas, Rosario ship ice-breaking homers in rout

LOS ANGELES — Miguel Rojas walked again into the house dugout and none of his teammates stated a phrase. Rojas had simply hit his first homer in over a yr and his teammates had been taking part in a prank on him.

Rojas made certain there was nonetheless a celebration, celebrating on his personal, utilizing all of the dances the group has provide you with over the course of the season. After a number of seconds, Rojas was mobbed by his teammates in celebration.

The complete Dodgers lineup took turns celebrating and dancing on Wednesday, as each place participant who took the sector reached safely at the very least as soon as within the 10-1 blowout win over the A’s at Dodger Stadium.

“I knew the guys were gonna play a trick on me and do the silent treatment and all that,” Rojas laughed. “But the most important thing is how we’ve been hitting left-handed pitchers this series, it’s been good to watch.”

It didn’t take lengthy for the Dodgers to leap on the A’s, who maintain the worst file within the Majors. Mookie Betts led off the sport with a double and scored on a Freddie Freeman single. Largely due to some shoddy A’s protection, L.A. scored two extra occasions within the first body.

In the second, the Dodgers had some loud swings off A’s starter Hogan Harris. Again, it was Betts that began the rally, blasting his team-leading twenty ninth homer of the season, a solo shot, to offer the Dodgers a 4-0 lead. Three batters later, Amed Rosario hit his first homer as a Dodger, a two-run blast to push the Dodgers’ result in seven runs by two innings. 

“Being surrounded by superstars, it makes you feel good,” Rosario stated. “It makes me work harder, because I want to be like them in the future.”

Then it was Rojas’ flip within the third to hitch the homer get together. Rojas jumped on a heater in the midst of the plate and simply received it over the left-field wall. The Dodgers’ shortstop was 1-for-21 for the reason that begin of the present nine-game homestand and hadn’t homered since June 26, 2022. 

“It’s not my first one [home run], but it feels like it,” Rojas stated. “Our hitting coach, Aaron Bates, has been working a lot of hours with me to try to get that one, and not just that, but to get me going offensively the whole year.”

In the sixth, Jason Heyward additionally had a primary this season. Pinch-hitting for Betts — who was taken out of the sport due to the lopsided rating — Heyward jumped on the primary pitch he noticed and blasted it a handful of rows up the right-field pavilion. 

For Heyward, it was his first hit this season towards a left-hander, and his first dwelling run vs. a lefty since May 17, 2021.

“Just wanted to get ready to hit. Get a good pitch to hit. Try not to miss it,” Heyward stated. “Especially coming off the bench against a guy out of the bullpen, because once he gets ahead, he can make some really good pitches.”

With the offense clicking, the Dodgers didn’t require a lot from Tony Gonsolin, who allowed one run over 5 innings. Despite limiting the injury, Gonsolin made it by simply 5 innings for a fourth straight begin, needing 84 pitches whereas placing out three and permitting 5 hits. 

Over the following two months and into the postseason, the Dodgers nonetheless want to determine how they’re going to pitch their solution to wins. But the offense has been extraordinarily constant this season and has an opportunity to hold them to the place they need to be on the finish of the yr.

“I think the first two games [in this series], we’ve shown the ability to control the strike zone, stress the starter, get deep into their ‘pen,” stated Dodgers supervisor Dave Roberts. “I think that’s a sign of a very good ballclub.”