Dodgers 9, Athletics 3: Hyeseong Kim’s 1st MLB homer keeps bats in it, as Mookie & Muncy blow it open late

Chad Moriyama 05/14/2025 Game Recaps Leave A Comment

Coming into today, the Dodgers have continued to alternate wins and losses going back 10 games, and thankfully they were able to make it 11 today. It was an extremely tight game through eight innings or so, with the Dodgers were barely squeaking by, but they put up a five-spot in the 8th to blow it open in a 9-3 victory over the Athletics.

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The Dodgers got out an early lead against Gunnar Hoglund with a pair of early homers, as Shohei Ohtani led off the 1st with his 13th, and Andy Pages led off the 2nd with his 7th.

That made it 2-0 early on.

Unfortunately it didn’t last long despite Yoshinobu Yamamoto being on the mound. He cruised through the 1st and then worked around a lead-off single and a two-out steal in the 2nd, but he got burned twice with the curve in the 3rd. A lead-off single was followed by two outs, but Tyler Soderstrom ambushed the first pitch for a two-run homer to tie the game at 2-2.

In the 4th, a lead-off walk was cashed in by a one-out double from Miguel Andujar to give the A’s a 3-2 lead, and later Hyeseong Kim made a great play on a grounder up the middle to prevent further damage.

Yamamoto did finish strong, getting a clean 5th and then issuing just a walk in the 6th, but that was the end of his night as he seemed to be tiring, at least if his velo is any indication.

He actually didn’t look that sharp tonight, getting behind hitters more frequently than usual: 6 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 6 K, 88 Pitches.

The Dodger offense was mostly quiet aside from the lead-off homers, and in the 5th it was yet another lead-off homer that tied the game. This time it was the first MLB homer and the first MLB extra-base hit for Kim, and he was rewarded by a jubilant seed shower.

They did then strand a two-out single and walk as they tried to rally, which kept things tied.

Another rally was started in the 6th, as Pages drew a walk and Michael Conforto singled, but Pages was cut down foolishly trying to make it to third on a ball to left and there was one down. That did end up knocking Hoglund out of the game, and later with two outs, Miguel Rojas pinch-hit and doubled to right-center that managed to score Conforto and make it 4-3 Dodgers.

An infield single cornered the runners and provided another chance to add, but the Dodgers again couldn’t take advantage. The 7th then saw yet another chance to add on wasted after a one-out walk and two-out single were stranded.

Finally they were able to cash in on an opportunity in the 8th. An Enrique Hernandez single was followed by a Miggy Ro sac bunt, which led to a Ohtani free pass. Mookie Betts was … not happy with that, and doubled to right-center to plate a pair of runs, and he let the opposing dugout know. 6-3.

After Freddie Freeman walked to follow, it was Max Muncy who stepped up with two outs and pummeled his second homer of the year to make it the final score of 9-3.

Now with the lead, first out of the pen in the 7th was Alex Vesia, who got a 1-2-3 frame on 11 pitches. Kirby Yates entered for the 8th and gave up a one-out double but eventually managed to strand it with a strikeout to end the frame.

To close things out it was Ben Casparius in the 9th, who got an easy 1-2-3 frame, though with a pen game tomorrow that was an interesting choice.

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NL WestRecordGB
Dodgers28-15–
Padres27-150.5
Giants25-193

The series will conclude tomorrow at 4:10 PM HT/7:10 PM PT/10:10 PM ET, and it’ll be a pen game against Osvaldo Bido, who I don’t know and that makes me scared.

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