May 2, 2021 : Beaty and Pollock Slam the Brewers

May second, 2021.

The Dodgers were playing the last game of a four-game set in Milwaukee. The Dodgers had lost the previous three games to the Brewers. The day before, they lost in 11 innings, 6-5. They were 1-6 in their last seven games. 

They were a half-game out of first place, but they desperately needed a win. Julio Urias got the start against Alec Bettinger. A rookie. The Dodgers needed a fast start, and boy, did they get it. 

They would score five runs off of the rookie, capped by an AJ Pollock grand slam to deep center field. The fun was just beginning. 

In the second inning, they scored four more runs, all of them coming on Matt Beaty’s first homer of the year, a grand slam to RF. Both he and Pollock had hit their bombs with two outs. 

The Dodgers were held scoreless by Bettinger in the third, and Milwaukee got a run back on a home run by Jacob Nottingham. 

 In the top of the fourth, the Dodgers went to work on Bettinger again, tagging him for two more runs. Bettinger was done after four, and Jordan Zimmerman came in to replace him. 

Zim threw a scoreless fifth, and Urias did the same. In the sixth, the Dodgers tagged Zimmerman for three more, all of them scoring on Pollock’s second homer of the game, a three-run shot. It gave Pollock 8 RBIs for the game. 

Urias cruised through the seventh inning, and Mike Kickham took over in the 8th. The Dodgers tacked on 2 more in the 8th, making the score 16-1. Beaty drove in his 7th run of the game. 

 Kickham went out for the 9th inning and gave up three runs for the final score of 16-4. Jacob Nottingham hit his second home run of the game in the 9th. 

Overall, the Dodgers had 18 hits. Beaty had 4, Pollock and Taylor had 3, Turner, Smith and Lux had 2, and Seager and Neuse had the other 2. 

Betts was the only starter without a hit. Barnes was hit by a pitch, and Taylor was hit twice. Taylor scored five runs, Beaty 3, Seager, Pollock, Smith, and Turner scored two each. 

The 15 RBIs by teammates Pollock and Beaty were the most in LA Dodger history by teammates. Pollock’s 8 placed him one back of Gil Hodges and James Loney for the single-game mark.     The Dodgers improved to 17-12 and stayed a half-game out of first. They would lose four more before starting to turn the season around.