Mookie Betts goes deep twice in Dodgers win, Aaron Judge crushes his 49th homer for the Yankees

By Sports Desk August 27, 2022

All 16 runs of the Los Angeles Dodgers' 10-6 win over the Miami Marlins were scored after the fifth inning, with Mookie Betts collecting four hits and driving home four runs in a big day at the plate on Friday.

After a scoreless opening five frames, Chris Taylor drove in the first run of the game for the Dodgers with a sacrifice fly in the sixth, only for the Marlins to respond with a two-run double to Joey Wendle to give the Marlins a 2-1 lead.

Betts connected on his 28th home run of the season with a two-run shot to left-field in the seventh inning, but the lead was again short-lived as the Marlins responded in the bottom of the frame, with Miguel Rojas and Wendle driving in a run each to lead 5-4.

In the ninth inning, trailing by one run, Betts came through again with his 29th homer to tie the game, and when Justin Turner made it 6-5 with his RBI single, it looked like the Dodgers were going to get the job done in regulation, but a big Peyton Burdick home run took things to extra innings.

The Dodgers made sure it would not drag on all night, piling on four runs in the 10th, highlighted by an RBI double to Betts for his fourth hit of the night.

With the win, the Dodgers extended their league-best record to 87-37, giving them a seven-and-a-half game lead atop the National League, and 19-and-a-half game lead over the San Diego Padres in the NL West.

Judge, Cole carry the Yankees

The New York Yankees received starring performances from their marquee players as they defeated the Oakland Athletics 3-2 on the road.

Setting the foundations for the win was ace pitcher Gerrit Cole, who struck out 11 batters in his seven-and-a-third innings, allowing one run from three hits and two walks. It was the first time Cole has been credited with a win this month.

With scores tied at 0-0 in the fifth inning, Oswaldo Cabrera and D.J. LeMahieu were able to string together a couple singles to put two runners on base for Aaron Judge, and the AL MVP favourite delivered, crushing his 49th home run of the season. No other player has more than 35.

After a rough month, the Yankees have now won five in a row.

Harper returns in style for the Phillies

Reigning NL MVP Bryce Harper returned from a two-month injury layoff on Friday, and delivered a two-run hit with his very first at-bat in his side's 7-4 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Harper finished one-for-four at the plate with two RBIs as he came back in the designated hitter spot, while Rhys Hoskins, Alec Bohm and Nick Castellanos all collected multiple hits.

Bailey Falter banked the win on the mound, making it through six innings while conceding three runs from six hits and no walks, striking out six.

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    The Angels lost 2-1 to the Oakland Athletics on Opening Day, but they had led 1-0 through Ohtani's six innings, in which he sent down 10 strikeouts.

    Loup then came in for what he described as "probably the most embarrassing outing of my career".

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    Ohtani's performance was all the more remarkable as he called his own pitches, using the recently approved PitchCom, in response to the introduction of the pitch clock.

    An early mix-up required catcher Logan O'Hoppe to ask Ohtani to re-enter the code in the device, which was soon ditched for the remainder of the first inning.

    All went smoothly thereafter, though, and O'Hoppe said: "He probably could have been more unhittable if we had PitchCom in the first inning."

    So quickly did the two-way sensation master the new process, Ohtani was regularly keying in his pitch before the pitch clock had even begun.

    He explained the nature of a visit from home-plate umpire Adrian Johnson at the end of the fifth inning, saying: "He told me I was pitching a little early – before the batter was in the box."

    The A's scarcely threatened to disrupt Ohtani's shutout, and he had the answer when they did.

    With only one out and runners on second and third in the fourth inning, he struck out Jesus Aguilar and Ramon Laureano in quick succession.

    Mike Trout reflected: "That sequence right there... he went from dominant to unhittable."

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    "We got a lot of guys on base, got a few guys in scoring position, but we just lacked that one big hit," Ohtani said. "Obviously we want to score more."

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    He was a Giants fan as a child and the subject of interest from San Francisco in free agency this offseason before returning to the Yankees.

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    Alejandro Kirk had helped the Jays to a 3-0 first-inning lead with a two-run single on a line drive, after Daulton Varsho drove in George Springer on a double.

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