Betts homer in front of 52,078 leads Dodgers over Phillies

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Mookie Betts hit a go-ahead home run in the seventh inning and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Philadelphia Phillies 5-3 Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium before the largest crowd to attend a professional sports league game in the United States since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

Betts led off the seventh by driving an 0-2 changeup from Ranger Suárez (2-1) over the left-center wall to give Los Angeles a 4-3 lead. Betts, who had three hits, also provided an insurance run with an RBI single in the eighth.

The Phillies have lost two straight and also saw slugger Bryce Harper leave the game with lower back stiffness after he took an awkward swing in the fourth.

The Dodgers acquired Betts from the Red Sox in February 2020, so this was the first time he got to play in front of a big crowd at Chavez Ravine.

The game was played before a sellout throng of 52,078 after California lifted many COVID-19 safety measures overnight, including allowing stadiums to go to full capacity.

Joe Kelly (2-0), the third of five Dodgers pitchers, worked a scoreless seventh to get the win and Blake Treinen pitched the ninth for his third save.

The Dodgers got on the board in the first when Gavin Lux got aboard with a one-out single, advanced to third on Justin Turner's single and scored on Will Smith's grounder.

Philadelphia quickly evened it in the second when Andrew McCutchen drove Julio Urías' fastball into the seats in left-center.

The Dodgers took a 3-1 lead in the fourth on RBI doubles by Zach McKinstry and Urías. The Dodgers lead the NL in RBIs by their pitchers with 15, including eight by Urías in his last five starts.

Philadelphia evened it in the fifth by taking advantage of a pair of Dodgers errors. After Alec Brohm led off with a single, Luke Williams...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Betts-homer-in-front-of-52-078-leads-Dodgers-over-16251119.php