Bellinger’s homer sets personal and team records in 6–2 win

Rowan Kavner
Dodger Insider
Published in
4 min readApr 27, 2019
(PC: Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers)

by Rowan Kavner

Hyun-Jin Ryu still hasn’t walked a batter at home this year. The Dodgers still haven’t gone a game without hitting a home run at home this year. And Cody Bellinger still hasn’t stopped setting records.

Bellinger started the Dodgers’ return trip home by setting the Major League record for total bases before May 1, while Ryu again handed out no free passes and struck out 10 batters for the first time since July 13, 2014, in a 6–2 win Friday night against the Pirates.

“I guess it all goes back to how I was taught, even when I was younger,” Ryu said through a translator. “When I was in elementary school, people around me told me how it’s better to give up a homer than a base on balls.”

If he had to face Bellinger, though, Ryu concedes he might contradict himself.

“Right now,” Ryu said, “that seems like the smart idea to pitch around him.”

The Pirates did that once, walking him in the fifth inning, but that was after he already did damage his first time up. He erased a 1–0 deficit with a two-run home run that not only set the total base record but also set a team MLB record with a 33rd straight home game with a home run, surpassing the Rockies’ previous mark of 32 set in 1999.

“To stay on that ball, hit a 3-iron out, was pretty impressive,” said manager Dave Roberts.

Roberts had less of an answer for the team’s unprecedented power at home as he did for Bellinger’s hot start, now hitting safely in 26 of 27 games with 89 total bases to start the year.

Bellinger said he didn’t know about setting the record previously held by his former teammate, Chase Utley, until he was told in the dugout afterward.

“He’s doing just so many good things, and he’s taking his walks when he needs to,” Roberts said. “The way he’s seeing the baseball, when he doesn’t want to do or try to do too much, you see the numbers.”

Bellinger and Austin Barnes each went deep in the win. Barnes’ solo home run in the second inning added to the lead and his two-run double in his second at-bat broke the game open and helped Barnes erase a 1-for-29 skid.

“That homer was big, and then the double later was just as big,” Roberts said. “He’s on to something. Confidence is starting to come back, and now you get the results.”

Archer had only allowed three home runs all year and hadn’t allowed more than three runs in a start entering the night. The Dodgers chased the Pittsburgh starter after scoring six runs in four innings.

Cole Tucker and Cody Bellinger (PC: Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles)

Neither team scored after that, though Bellinger continued to add to his total base mark in the seventh inning with a single. But it was not personal accolades he was interested on a Friday night in which he faced one of his best friends, Pittsburgh rookie shortstop Cole Tucker.

“We literally dreamed of this since freshman year of high school,” Bellinger said.

When Tucker got called up, Bellinger said the two of them looked at the schedule immediately and saw how quickly they’d meet in Los Angeles. They had friends from Arizona in town to watch as Bellinger continued putting on a show.

The early run support helped Ryu settle in after getting out of a jam with two runners in scoring position in the second inning. After a double play ball brought in a run in the first inning, Ryu would only allow one more run the next six innings.

“He battled through it, like he always does,” Barnes said. “Nothing seems to faze him, really.”

Ryu, who allowed a solo homer to Josh Bell, joked that the advice he received a child has now led to surrendering more home runs — he’s allowed at least one every start this year — but he hasn’t given up more than two runs in any of those starts.

Maybe the advice was prudent.

“At least I don’t have anyone that gets on base for free,” Ryu said. “It’s just the nature of the way I attack the hitters.”

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Published in Dodger Insider

It's time for everything to do with Dodger baseball.

Written by Rowan Kavner

Editor, Digital & Print Publications for the Los Angeles Dodgers | Twitter: @RowanKavner

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