LOS ANGELES (AP) — Trayce Thompson hit three home runs and become the first player to drive in eight or more runs in a season debut since the RBI became an official statistic in 1920, helping Clayton Kershaw and the Los Angeles Dodgers roll to a 10-1 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Saturday night.
Thompson hit a grand slam in his first at-bat of the season as the Dodgers beat Arizona for the 16th time in the last 22 meetings. J.D. Martinez added his first home run in a Dodgers uniform.
In the 12th matchup between left-handers Kershaw and Madison Bumgarner, the Los Angeles star came out on top with six strong innings. The previous 11 matchups came when Bumgarner was a member of the San Francisco Giants. Each pitchers’ team has won six times in the meetings.
Kershaw (1-0) gave up one run on four hits with no walks and nine strikeouts in an efficient 76 pitches over his first start of 2023. Bumgarner (0-1) gave up five runs on four hits with four walks and two strikeouts in four innings (85 pitches).
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Thompson’s grand slam came in a five-run first inning for the Dodgers before he added a three-run shot in the fifth inning.
Christian Walker hit a home run for the Diamondbacks, the fifth of his career against Kershaw.
The Dodgers wasted little time jumping on Bumgarner. Mookie Betts opened the bottom of the first with a double, Freddie Freeman singled and Max Muncy was hit by a slow curveball to load the bases. Chris Taylor’s sacrifice fly gave the Dodgers a 1-0 lead with a Miguel Vargas walk loading the bases again before Thompson’s slam.
Walker’s home run in the second inning pulled the Diamondbacks to 5-1 and gave him nine hits in his first 29 career at-bats against Kershaw.
Bumgarner gave way to right-hander Kevin Ginkel in the fifth inning before Thompson cashed in a double from Martinez and another walk to Vargas with his second-career multi-homer game for an 8-1 lead.
Martinez’s home run came in the seventh inning for Los Angeles, while Thompson’s third of the night came in the eighth. All three Thompson home runs went to left-center field and traveled 409, 418 and 440 feet, in that order.
Right-hander Noah Syndergaard will make his Dodgers debut after signing a one-year, $13 million deal with the club and will pitch opposite Diamondbacks right-hander Zach Davies.
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