Freddie Freeman’s grand slam sparked a big six-run third inning, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched well as the Los Angeles Dodgers won 6-4 against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday night.
Freeman’s homer off Slade Cecconi (1-4) was part of a strong offensive surge where the first six Dodgers players reached base and scored in the third inning.
Kiké Hernández and Will Smith also hit home runs in the same inning as Los Angeles improved their record to 33-17. It’s the ninth time in team history that the Dodgers have won at least 33 games in their first 50 games of the season.
Yamamoto (5-1) gave up two runs on seven hits and struck out eight batters in 6 1/3 innings. He threw a season-high 100 pitches, with 69 of them being strikes.
This game marked the 18th time in 27 games that a Dodgers starter has pitched at least six innings. Daniel Hudson closed out the ninth inning, earning his third save in five chances.
“Offensively we are doing enough to score some runs to win,” manager Dave Roberts said. “I think that there’s room to continue to get better consistency up and down the lineup. But the pitching has been what has been the impetus for this hot streak.”
Arizona’s Ketel Marte extended his hitting streak to 19 games, the longest in the majors this season, and tied for the fifth-longest in Diamondbacks history.
Kyle Newman had three hits, marking his fifth multi-hit game in the last nine games. Although Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Jake McCarthy hit back-to-back homers in the eighth inning, the Diamondbacks have lost four of their last six games.
“I was very pleased with our approach. We built innings and had baserunners. We couldn’t get the big hit at the right time,” Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said.
Freeman’s grand slam was the sixth of his career and his third since last season’s start. He is one of seven players with three grand slams over the past two seasons.
The Dodgers are the only team in the majors with two players who have hit at least three grand slams since the beginning of the 2023 season. Max Muncy leads the team with four.
