MILWAUKEE (AP) – A.J. Pollock drove in eight runs, and Matt Beatty went in seven, with both players hitting early grand slams in a startling power show that sent the Los Angeles Dodgers over the Milwaukee Brewers 16-4 on Sunday. Pollock homered twice and doubled, while Beaty went 4 of 6 and scored three times. Heir slams came against Alec Bettinger, who gave up 11 runs in his big league debut after never pitching above Double-A.
This was the first time in franchise history that the Dodgers had two players with at least seven RBIs in the same game. The last time it happened for any MLB team was on Aug. 22, 2007, when Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Ramon Vazquez had seven RBIs for the Texas Rangers in a 30-3 blowout of the Baltimore Orioles.
The last time two Dodgers hit grand slams in the same game came when Adrian Beltre and Shawn Green did it in a 12-3 victory over the Florida Marlins on May 21, 2000.
Pollock’s eight RBIs matched the highest single-game total by any player in the history of American Family Field, which opened in April 2001 as Miller Park. He shares the record with Josh Willingham (2009) and Yasmani Grandal (2015). All three did it as visiting players.
Chris Taylor scored five runs, going 3 for the Dodgers.
Jacob Nottingham hit two homers for the Brewers, who reacquired him from Seattle earlier in the day. The Mariners had claimed Nottingham off waivers from the Brewers last week.
Julio Urias (4-0) allowed one run and four hits in seven innings. He struck out ten and walked none.
The Brewers were seeking to sweep a four-game series from the Dodgers for only the second time. Milwaukee recorded a four-game sweep at Dodger Stadium in May 2012.
But in a matchup featuring two decimated rosters – these two teams have a combined 27 players on the injured list – the Brewers ran out of healthy, proven pitchers.
Pollock hit a slam in the first inning, a three-run homer off Jordan Zimmermann in the sixth, and an RBI double in the eighth. Beaty had an RBI infield hit in the first, a slam in the second, and a two-run single in the fourth.
Bettinger (0-1) allowed 11 runs on 11 hits and two walks in four innings. He hit a batter and struck out none – he did retire Dodgers star Mookie Betts in all three at-bats.
The 25-year-old righty nearly escaped with a scoreless first. But with two on and two outs, he hit Taylor with a pitch to load the bases, and Beatty followed with an infield hit that scored a run, and Pollock’s grand slam over the center-field wall put the Dodgers ahead 5-0. Bettinger again and two on and two outs in the second when Taylor reached on an infield hit, and Beaty produced the Dodgers’ second grand slam by sending a drive over the outstretched arm of a leaping Avisaíl García in right field.
