WASHINGTON — Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts wasn’t worried about his struggling superstars, and Friday night proved his patience was justified.
The team’s first four batters — Shohei Ohtani, Kyle Tucker, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman — each launched home runs during a dominant 13-6 victory against the Washington Nationals. The performance marked Tucker’s inaugural long ball since becoming a Dodger and delivered Ohtani’s first RBI of the young season.
“Rome isn’t burning,” manager Dave Roberts cracked.
Roberts showed no signs of concern before the contest, despite his top four hitters struggling mightily through the season’s opening six games. Ohtani entered batting .167, Tucker at .174, Betts hitting just .136 and Freeman managing only .208. The team’s first six batters were retired in order early before Los Angeles found their rhythm in the third inning.
Ohtani’s powerful three-run blast to right field evened the score at 3-3, while Betts followed two batters later with a two-run shot of his own.
“It’s a new day. That’s really it,” Betts said. “Nobody in here is panicking or anything. One week, tough week. That probably is not going to be our last week that we don’t hit well.”
Andy Pages contributed a two-run homer in the fourth inning, extending the lead to 7-4, before Freeman added his own two-run blast in the fifth. Tucker capped his three-hit performance with a solo shot in the seventh inning — impressive work from the outfielder who inked a $240 million, four-year contract after leaving the Chicago Cubs for Los Angeles.
“It was nice. First homer — first actual ball I’ve hit in the air well, out in front and everything,” Tucker said. “You can’t complain when you hit a homer.”
Los Angeles’ top four hitters combined for an 8-for-21 performance featuring four home runs, 10 RBIs and six runs scored. The offensive explosion came against Miles Mikolas, who surrendered a career-worst 11 earned runs across 4 1/3 innings.
“I think a little bit of it is we’ve had a lot of history with Mikolas,” Roberts said “We’ve seen him, know some of his tendencies. Outside of that, they were just not missing today.”
