PHOENIX (AP) — Tony Gonsolin pitched five scoreless innings and Freddie Freeman homered on a 4-for-4 day to lead the Los Angeles Dodgers to an 8-1 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday.
Mookie Betts also went deep for the Dodgers, who had 18 hits and salvaged a four-game split with their National League West rivals. With San Diego’s 9-3 loss at Colorado, Los Angeles regained the division lead by one game over the Padres.
Gonsolin (2-0), making his third start after missing all of 2024 following Tommy John surgery, threw 84 pitches, walking two and striking out four. The right-hander lowered his ERA to 2.81, giving a boost to a Dodgers staff missing injured starters Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow.
Freeman raised his NL-leading batting average to .376. He doubled in Mookie Betts in the first off Zac Gallen (3-5), doubled again in the third and hit a sacrifice fly in the fifth. He added his ninth homer, off Joe Mantiply, in the seventh, and singled against José Castillo in the ninth.
Betts’ homer, his sixth, came off Castillo in the ninth.
Gallen lasted 5 1/3 innings, giving up 10 hits and four runs. He walked two and struck out five.
Arizona’s José Herrera doubled off Ben Casparius in the seventh, scoring Alec Thomas from first.
Key moment
Will Smith’s sharp single past Gallen in the fourth scored Betts to make it 3-0.
Key stat
Castillo committed three balks in two innings of relief. The major league record for a game is five by the Braves’ Bob Shaw in 1963.
Up next
The Dodgers return home to face the Athletics. Landon Knack (2-0, 4.61 ERA) starts against Jeffrey Springs (4-3, 4.81) on Tuesday. The Diamondbacks play at San Francisco Monday, with Merrill Kelly (3-2, 4.09) facing Justin Verlander (0-2, 4.50).
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