Freddie Freeman's clutch hit breaks tie in 8th after another solid Gavin Stone start

06/15/2024 12:32 AM

Chris Taylor hit his first home run of the season

The Dodgers came back to beat the Royals 4-3 Friday night at Dodger Stadium after Gavin Stone set the tone with another solid start.

The Dodgers are now 19-0 when Miguel Rojas collects a hit in the game. Miggy Ro came up with a big home run, but the bigger home run may have come off the bat of his teammate Chris Taylor.

Taylor finally collected his first home run of the season, and Freddie Freeman came up with the game-winning base hit in the eighth off the Kansas City bullpen.

Stone and Cole Ragans, two young and promising starting pitchers, impressed through the first three scoreless innings. Stone threw one bad slider to Salvador Perez for a costly three-run home run, but nonetheless pitched efficiently and deep into the game with 94 pitches over seven innings.

Youth is fleeting, but Salvador Perez's power is enduring. The KC Captain crushed a mammoth three-run home run off Stone's slider right over the plate in the top of the third to give the Royals a 3-0 lead. The impressive 437 footshot landed in the very back of the pavilion.

The Dodgers didn't get a man on base until Shoehi Ohtani's one-out single in the bottom of the fourth. Ragans neutralized Freeman and Will Smith despite a wild pitch in the frame.

Stone induced a flyout from Bobby Witt Jr. on his changeup to escape a jam in the bottom of the fifth and strand two runners.

Ragans hasn't allowed more than one home run in a game all season long. The Dodgers smashed two against him in one inning when things unraveled for Ragans in the home half of the fifth. Rojas started the tying rally with a two-run home run.

Then the struggling Taylor hit his first home run of the season over the left field fence to tie the game 3-3.

Witt Jr. and the Royals made an amazing double play in the seventh. A shallow Andy Pages fly ball looked like it was 100% going to drop, but Witt Jr. made an incredible catch then turned and fired to first to double up Teoscar Hernandez.

Kansas City royally messed up in the bottom of the eighth. Will Smith, the pitcher, took over for Ragans. Mookie Betts extended his hitting streak to eight games with a scorching leadoff single off the glove of third baseman Maikel Garcia. An errant pickoff attempt moved Mookie into scoring position with one out. Freddie Freeman came through with a clutch RBI single to center field to give the Dodgers a 4-3 lead.

Alex Vesia shut down the Royals in the ninth, and the Dodgers got back in the winning column.

Friday particulars

Home runs: Salvador Perez (11), Miguel Rojas (3) Chris Taylor (1)

WP — Daniel Hudson (3-1): 1 IP, 0 hits 0 runs, 0 BB, 1 strikeout (9 pitches)

LP — Will Smith (0-3): ²⁄₃ IP, 1 run, 2 hits, 1 strikeout, 0 BB (30 pitches)

SV — Alex Vesia (3)

Up next

Yoshinobu Yamamoto (6-2, 3.00, 1.07 WHIP) and the Dodgers look to lock in the series win Saturday. Seth Lugo will start for Kansas City. First pitch is at 6:10 p.m. PST on SportsNet LA.