Betts hits 2 HRS, Dodgers defeat Nats
WASHINGTON — Mookie Betts homered twice on a night he was originally supposed to have off, and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Washington Nationals 9-4 Tuesday night.
Betts smacked a three-run homer off former Dodgers prospect Josiah Gray and hit solo shot off Victor Arano for his 21st career multi-homer game and his second of the season.
“Over the last 30 days, it’s as good as anybody on the planet right now,” manager Dave Roberts said. “It’s as good as I’ve seen him. He’s scoring runs at a crazy clip. He’s on base. He’s slugging at a ridiculous clip, too, and he’s playing Gold Glove defense. He’s making the game look a lot easier than it is.”
Chris Taylor and Trea Turner also homered for
Los Angeles, which has won nine of 10. At 29-13, Los Angeles owns the best record in the National League.
Washington has dropped seven of its last nine and is a major-league worst 5-17 at home.
Dodgers starter Walker Buehler (6-1) allowed three runs in six innings, retiring 15 of the last 17 batters he faced. He yielded six hits and struck out three.
It was the first time Gray (4-4) faced the Dodgers since he was dealt to the Nationals at last year’s trade deadline in the deal that sent Turner and Max Scherzer to Los Angeles. Things unraveled quickly for the 24-year-old right-hander.
Gray gave up seven runs in three innings, and is tied with Cincinnati’s Hunter Greene for the NL lead in homers allowed with 12.
■ Blue Jays 8, Cardinals 1: At St. Louis, Danny Jansen hit a three-run homer and a solo shot to back Kevin Gausman (4-3), who threw six scoreless innings with eight strikeouts and no walks.
■ Rays 4, Marlins 0: At St. Petersburg, Fla., Kevin Kiermaier hit an inside-the-park home run in the first inning to back Shane Mcclanahan (4-2), who struck out nine in six innings.
■ Twins 2, Tigers 0: At Minneapolis, Sonny
Gray compiled a season-high 10 strikeouts over seven innings, carrying Minnesota to its sixth straight victory.
■ Diamondbacks 8, Royals 6: At Phoenix, MJ Melendez hit a homer and a double for Kansas City. Melendez finished with three RBIS and two runs scored.
■ Rockies 2, Pirates 1: At Pittsburgh, Connor Joe singled home the tiebreaking run in the top of the 10th inning as his on-base streak reached 21 games.
■ Brewers 4, Padres 1: At San Diego, Mike Brosseau and Tyrone Taylor each homered for Milwaukee, which snapped San Diego’s five game winning streak.
■ Cubs 11, Reds 4: At Cincinnati, Frank Schwindel homered twice for Chicago, who have hit a major league-leading 19 homers since May 14.
■ Red Sox 16, White Sox 3: At Chicago, Trevor Story and Christian Vazquez each hit three-run home runs and drove in four for Boston.
■ Astros 7, Guardians 3: At Houston, Kyle Tucker hit a three-run homer to back Framber Valdez (4-2), who collected his third straight win.
■ Yankees 7, Orioles 6: At New York, Jose Trevino hit a walk-off single in the 11th inning for New York, who ended a three-game skid.
■ Braves 6, Phillies 5: At Atlanta, William Contreras hit a walk-off single, scoring Ronald Acuña Jr. in the bottom of the ninth.
■ Athletics 7, Mariners 5: At Seattle, Jed Lowrie homered in the fifth inning as Oakland snapped a 13-game losing streak to Seattle.
■ Rangers 5, Angels 3: At Anaheim, Calif.,
Jared Walsh homered for Los Angeles, which handed Texas its third straight loss.