MILWAUKEE — A.J. Pollock drove in eight runs and Matt Beaty drove 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. Their slams came against Alec Bettinger, who gave up 11 runs in his big league debut after never pitching above Double-A.
“I think it was just a good day for the offense,” Pollock said on the postgame telecast. “I was at seven (in the order), so that means for me to get up in that first inning, we had a lot of good at-bats. There was a couple of walks, a couple of hits, and then we had a couple of big ones.
“So, it was really good to have a team win and have the offense explode like that.”
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 each had seven RBIs for the Texas Rangers in a 30-3 blowout of the Baltimore Orioles.
“It’s a weird game,” Pollock said. “We’ve had a few days where maybe one or two balls drop in, instead of lining out, and maybe things start rolling. But we know we have a really, really good offense. We just have to stick with it, and keep showing up at the ballpark.”
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.
“It’s just confidence. As at-bats start to build up, you start to have more success and you get more confident,” Beaty said. “You feel good in the box, you feel comfortable.”
They certainly felt that on Sunday, as they salvaged the series finale after dropping the first three games.
“That was a lot of fun,” Beaty said. “We started pretty early today. Really good at-bats, getting people on base, and getting them over. It was a lot of fun.”
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.
“It’s been a process. Every day, showing up I feel like I have a good plan, and I’m in a good spot, good positions to hit,” Pollock said. “Sometimes, it works, and other times, you’re feeling good but it’s just not there. You have to trust it, and keep putting yourself in positions to do some damage at the plate.”
Chris Taylor scored five runs, going 3 for 3 for the Dodgers.
“A day like this is always welcome,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “Even starting before the game, the mojo, the energy, guys were having a good time, and it certainly carried over.”
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), who allowed one run and four hits in seven innings. He struck out 10 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.
“Things snowballed,” Milwaukee manager Craig Counsell said. “It didn’t go well, but we move on to the next day.”
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, however, 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 Avisail Garcia in right field.
“We played a good series here,” Counsell said. “You take three out of four from the Dodgers, that’s a good series.”
One bit of positive news for the Brewers on a bad day at the ballpark was on the injury front. Outfielders Christian Yelich and Lorenzo Cain are expected to return to action during the upcoming series in Philadelphia. President of baseball operations David Stearns said it’s possible they could be ready Monday. Yelich hasn’t played since April 11 due to a lower back strain. Cain is recovering from a left quad strain and last played on April 13.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.