SAN DIEGO (AP) — At some point Dodgers rookie Cody Bellinger will cool off. Won’t he?
“It’s crazy,” Bellinger said. “But I’m going to keep my foot on the gas pedal and go from there.”
Bellinger hit a grand slam and drove in five runs, and Los Angeles beat the San Diego Padres 10-2 on Saturday night.
Clayton Kershaw (5-2) allowed a run and five hits over 7 1/3 innings, striking out nine and walking four.
But it was Bellinger stealing the spotlight again, as he continues his torrid pace.
“It’s amazing,” Kershaw said.
Bellinger, who went deep twice in Friday’s win, hit his first career slam in the Dodgers’ five-run ninth. He has five homers and 14 RBIs in 11 games since he was called up on April 25.
“He’s just got such a good feel,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “It’s on the bases, playing defense and at the plate.”
Bellinger’s slam came on a 95 mph 0-2 pitch that was somewhere around his neck.
“I haven’t seen too many people put a barrel on that, let alone hit a home run,” Kershaw said. “It was pretty impressive what he is doing. He’s just an all-around good baseball player. It’s pretty special.”
Padres manager Andy Green couldn’t believe Bellinger got on top off Miguel Diaz’s offering.
“The pitch that Bellinger hit out, up above his head practically, you tip your cap on that swing,” Green said.
It was the second time Kershaw defeated the Padres this season as he improved his career-mark against them to 16-6. In his last six starts against San Diego, he is 4-0 while giving up three runs over 40 2/3 innings.
The Dodgers beat the Padres for the fifth time in six games, a span in which they have outscored them 41-14.
Ryan Schimpf had a pinch-hit solo homer in the eighth off Kershaw, and Jabari Blash scored with two outs in the ninth on third baseman Justin Turner’s throwing error.
Clayton Richard (2-4) gave up five runs and seven hits while striking out five with a career high-tying six walks.
“I think it’s one of the most disappointing outings I’ve had,” Richard said. “I didn’t attack the strike zone much. I put us in bad situations.”
The Dodgers scored three runs in the fourth inning on four singles and a walk. Bellinger’s single scored Turner. Franklin Gutierrez scored on Austin Hedges’ erratic throw on a failed pickoff attempt at third, and Yasiel Puig finished the scoring by driving in Bellinger with a soft single to center.
Los Angeles extended the lead to 5-0 in the fifth on Enrique Hernandez’s two-run double into the left-field corner
The Padres threatened in fourth when second baseman Chris Taylor committed two errors on Hedges’ two-out grounder, placing him at second. Hunter Renfroe followed with the first of his two walks but Kershaw got Blash to fly out.
But no one can catch some of the long flies Bellinger is producing.
“You go through stretches sometimes where you get lucky hits and the ball isn’t going to the defender,” he said. “And that’s me right now.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Dodgers: LHP Hyun-Jin Ryu (left hip contusion) could return next weekend. … LHP Rich Hill (blister) will throw a minor-league rehab assignment on Tuesday and then could rejoin the rotation. … Gutierrez left the game in the sixth inning with hip tightness.
Padres: C Hector Sanchez is limited to pinch-hitting duties after suffering a foot contusion on Friday.
UP NEXT
Dodgers: RHP Brandon McCarthy (3-0, 3.10 ERA) looks to continue his dominance of the Padres to cap the three-game series. McCarthy has won eight of nine lifetime decisions against the Padres. He beat San Diego on April 6, allowing two runs and four hits over six innings
Padres: RHP Trevor Cahill (3-3, 5.82 ERA) surrendered five hits and three runs (two earned) in 5 2/3 innings against the Dodgers last month. Overall, Cahill is 6-6 with a 3.82 ERA against the Dodgers.
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