Dodgers 12, Braves 6: Corey Seager is good at baseball

The Dodger offense, led by Corey Seager, Yasmani Grandal and Howie Kendrick, showed up in a 12-6 win over the Braves on Sunday afternoon.

Corey Seager continued his hot series by hitting his team-leading 13th home run (101 MPH, 396 feet, 29 degrees) in the fourth inning and added his 14th dinger (106 MPH, 401 feet, 35 degrees) in the seventh inning. He also had a flare RBI single in the fifth inning. He’s good, or something.

Kendrick had two hits on the day playing third base for a resting Justin Turner, and Grandal capped off a 4-run third inning with a 3-run home run (105 MPH, 381 feet, 33 degree launch angle). Not bad for a guy whose exit velocity has fallen off a cliff since the beginning of May.

Also contributing on offense was Trayce Thompson, who got his first start in the No. 3 spot in the order. He singled in his first plate appearance and drew an impressive walk against Braves’ starter Matt Wisler in his second. Despite striking out in his third and fourth plate appearances, Thompson has looked good this season. He also walked in his last PA. What if this is the real Trayce Thompson? It’s something I’ll look at this week.

Oh, he’s also fast.

Enrique Hernandez blasted a solo home run (105 MPH, 408 feet, 25 degrees) in the second inning for his fourth of the season. He added a double in the fifth inning. Here’s hoping he’s rounding back into form. Scott Kazmir even had two hits of his own.

Speaking of Kazmir, he pitched a decent game. He gave up two runs in the first inning but recovered to throw 5-plus innings with this line: 5 IP, 7 H, 3 R/ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 85 pitches, 55 strikes, 5/4 GO/AO. But he left early with cramping in his quad, which would seem to indicate he should be fine to make his next start.

With the offense providing 12 runs, the bullpen was under minimal pressure to close out the game. But still, Chris Hatcher and Louis Coleman allowed runs. It didn’t hurt because of the big lead, though.

The Dodgers improved to 31-27 with the sweep of the Braves. They’re currently four games behind the Giants in the NL West (they play the Cardinals tonight). The Dodgers open a 3-game series against the Rockies on Monday night. Mike Bolsinger (1-2, 4.20 ERA) takes on Tyler Chatwood (6-4, 2.99). First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. Pacific time.

About Dustin Nosler

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Dustin Nosler began writing about the Dodgers in July 2009 at his blog, Feelin' Kinda Blue. He co-hosted a weekly podcast with Jared Massey called Dugout Blues. He was a contributor/editor at The Hardball Times and True Blue LA. He graduated from California State University, Sacramento, with his bachelor’s degree in journalism and a minor in digital media. While at CSUS, he worked for the student-run newspaper The State Hornet for three years, culminating with a 1-year term as editor-in-chief. He resides in Stockton, Calif.