Ohtani reaches 30 HRs for 6th straight season as Dodgers beat Rockies 7-6

DENVER (AP) — Shohei Ohtani hit a two-run shot to reach 30 homers for the sixth straight season and Freddie Freeman had two hits and two RBIs as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Colorado Rockies 7-6 on Tuesday night.

Teoscar Hernandez had a triple and double, and Tommy Edman doubled twice as the Dodgers broke out of an offensive slump in Denver.

Los Angeles scored 10 runs in the four-game series against Milwaukee over the weekend. Against Colorado, the Dodgers have scored 18 runs on 24 hits with four homers, including three by Ohtani, in the first two games of the three-game set.

Ohtani’s 30th homer traveled 448 feet into the Los Angeles bullpen off Ryan Feltner (5-7) and gave the Dodgers a 3-1 lead in the third inning. The Rockies tied it in the bottom of the inning before Los Angeles went ahead again in the fourth.

Edman, Kyle Tucker and Hernandez doubled in the inning to make it 5-3, and Hernandez scored on Freeman’s sacrifice fly.

Eric Lauer (8-6) allowed four runs on six hits with six strikeouts in five innings. The 31-yeare-old left-hander has been one of the best starters for Los Angeles since coming over from Toronto on May 17. He went 6-1 with a 3.48 ERA in his first 11 starts with the Dodgers.

Before the game, Los Angeles placed closer Edwin Diaz on the injured list with neck inflammation and recalled righty Emmet Sheehan from Triple-A. Tanner Scott, elevated to the closer role, earned his 17th save when he got TJ Rumfield to pop out to short with the tying run on.

Colorado's Will Castro hit his 14th homer of the season, a solo shot in the fifth inning.

Dodgers RHP Roki Sasaki (5-5, 4.46 ERA) faces Rockies LHP Kyle Freeland (4-10, 6.27) in the finale of the three-game series Wednesday night.

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