LOS ANGELES (AP) — Clayton Kershaw bounced back from two bad outings with six sharp innings, Gavin Lux drove in four runs and hit one of five Dodgers homers, and Los Angeles routed the Texas Rangers 12-1 Friday night.
Max Muncy, Justin Turner and Lux homered in the first inning, a smashing start to open the Dodgers’ seven-game homestand.
Albert Pujols and Will Smith also went deep as Los Angeles won its fourth in a row and sent Texas to its 16th straight road loss.
Kershaw (8-5) returned to the form that has made him the longtime ace of the Dodgers staff. The left-hander, who had allowed five runs in each of his last two starts for the first time since 2011, gave up only one unearned and three hits.
Kershaw struck out nine and walked none. He also was one of six Dodgers to have two hits, and his RBI single in the third extended their lead to 8-0.
Mike Foltynewicz (1-7) fell behind 6-0 in the first.
After Mookie Betts led off by reaching base on an error, Muncy drove Foltynewicz’s slider over the wall. Turner followed two pitches later with a drive to center, making the fourth time this season the Dodgers have had back-to-back homers.
Lux added a three-run homer with one out and marked the first time since 2015 that the Dodgers had connected three times in the opening frame. He also had an RBI double in the third.
Pujols, who came into the game in the second inning when Muncy left due to tightness in his right side, and Smith had solo shots in the fourth to make it 10-0. Los Angeles added two more in the fifth on Cody Bellinger’s RBI single and a sacrifice fly by Chris Taylor.
Foltynewicz went 2 2/3 innings and tied a career-high with eight runs allowed (seven earned) on eight hits. The right-hander is the first Texas pitcher to allow three home runs in the first inning since A.J. Griffin in 2017 at Detroit.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Dodgers: Cody Bellinger departed in the fifth inning with what appeared to be a lower-body cramp. … Manager Dave Roberts said it is a possibility SS Corey Seager could begin a rehab assignment in two weeks. Seager, who has been on the injured list since May 16 with a broken right hand, has started to take two-hand swings but with a tennis ball.
UP NEXT
Dodgers RHP Trevor Bauer (6-4, 2.40 ERA) is sixth in the majors with 103 strikeouts and has allowed two or fewer earned runs in all but three of his 13 starts, He will be opposed by Texas LHP Kolby Allard (1-2, 3.41 ERA), who was born in Anaheim and has not previously faced the Dodgers.
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