Adrian Gonzalez hit three of the Dodgers’ seven home runs in Monday afternoon’s 18-9 rout of the Reds at Great American Ball Park. After his third home run in the seventh inning, Gonzalez said loud enough for the TV cameras to pick up, “I love this ballpark!”
Gonzalez’s first blast was a three-run shot to right-center field off of Homer Bailey. He tacked on a two-run homer to the opposite field off of Jumbo Diaz in the fifth, and number three was a three-run tater against Blake Wood in the seventh. Gonzalez went for homer number four in the eighth but settled for an RBI ground out. It’s the second three-homer game and the first eight-RBI game of Gonzalez’s career. Two other players have hit three homers and driven in eight runs this season: Mookie Betts and Michael Saunders.
Other performances of note in Monday’s game: Andrew Toles had a homer and four RBI. Corey Seager went 4-for-5 with a homer and three RBI. Chase Utley and Howie Kendrick each had three hits. Joey Votto finished a homer short of the cycle, finishing 3-for-6 with four ribbies. Reds position player Tyler Holt pitched a perfect ninth inning.
The 18 runs are the most the Dodgers have scored in a game since beating the Rockies 19-11 on September 28, 2006. The last time the Reds allowed 18 or more runs was when they lost 22-1 to the Phillies on July 6, 2009.
The Reds, as a team, have now allowed 202 home runs this season. That puts them on pace to allow 264 home runs, which would shatter the all-time record for home runs allowed by a team in a season, currently held by the 1996 Tigers who yielded 241 dingers. The National League record is 239 by the 2001 Rockies.