The Dodgers scored their most runs in an inning in a regular-season game since moving to Los Angeles, scoring 11 times in the bottom of the first against the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday night.
The 11-run inning surpassed the previous mark of 10, which had been done at least four times, most recently in the first inning on April 25, 2008, at Colorado. It is the second time in less than a year the Dodgers have had an 11-run first. They put up the same number in Game 3 of last year’s NL Championship Series against Atlanta.
Cody Bellinger had a franchise-record six RBI’s in the inning. After Paul Goldschmidt hit a solo homer to center to give St. Louis 1-0 lead, Bellinger’s two-run single gave Los Angeles a 3-1 lead. Later in the inning, he hit a grand slam to right field off Jake Woodford.
Mookie Betts also had two hits as the Dodgers sent 14 batters to the plate in the inning. They didn’t record an out until pitcher Walker Buehler struck out on a foul bunt. By that point, Los Angeles was up 6-1 and benefitted from a pair of St. Louis errors.
Zach McKinstry, who had a two-run single, Justin Turner and Betts also had RBIs in the inning. The Dodgers had seven hits in the first and led 11-1 at the end of the inning.
St. Louis starter Carlos Martínez went two-thirds of an inning. He faced 12 batters and was lifted when a walk to Turner loaded the bases. The right-hander allowed 10 runs on six hits with four walks and a strikeout.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the last time the Dodgers scored 11 or more runs in an inning in a regular-season game was Aug. 8, 1954, when Brooklyn had 13 in the eighth inning in a 20-7 win over the Cincinnati Reds.
“It’s been in Ohio as early as the mid-1850s at least, brought in as an ornamental plant because of its unique foliage and white flowers,” Gardner said. “It was actually planted in people’s landscaping, and it has been spreading.”
The last time they scored at least 11 runs in the first in a regular-season contest was when they put up 15 on May 21, 1952, also against Cincinnati.
It is also the most runs scored in an inning in a major-league, regular-season game since the Atlanta Braves had 11 in the second inning against the Miami Marlins on Sept. 9, 2020.
The last time the Cardinals allowed a double-digit inning was the second inning on April 13, 2000, against Colorado, when the Rockies scored 10.