LOS ANGELES – Justin Turner and Chris Taylor each hit their first home runs of the season to lead the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 5-1 win over the Detroit Tigers on Friday night.
Tyler Anderson (2-0) earned the win for the Dodgers, allowing one earned run on five hits in five innings. He struck out three and walked one.
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“We scored a lot of runs, so we were trying to go out and throw strikes and force contact,” Anderson said. “That was probably the biggest thing.”
Turner, who is prone to slow starts, had a two-out, two-run homer on an 0-2 pitch from Tyler Alexander in the first inning. It scored Freddie Freeman, who had walked. Taylor’s solo homer came in the second inning.
“It felt good to see the ball go over the fence to give us the two-run lead early in the game and let Tyler go out and do his thing,” Turner said.
The Tigers scored their only run in the third inning when Javier Baez singled to center to score Tucker Barnhart.
Alexander (0-3) made his first career start against the Dodgers, allowing four earned runs in 2 1/3 innings.
Friday was the first time Tigers played at Dodger Stadium in eight years. Miguel Cabrera, who recently got his 3,000th hit, went 0 for 4. Detroit has lost six consecutive games and nine of their last 11.
The Dodgers are 7-1 at Dodger Stadium.
MIGGY THE MENTOR
Cabrera has been instrumental in helping mentor young hitters in his career, and Cabrera could continue to be involved in mentorship after he retires, too.
“Miggy is already kind of part of the staff anyway,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “Miggy has a lot to offer, specifically to young players and young Latin players. He’s very approachable and very knowledgeable (whether it’s) a big leaguer, minor leaguer, young kids on his son’s team. He’s truly in a mentor role. (When he retires), he’s welcome around our club any time he wants for as long as he wants.”
BAD TASTE
The Dodgers lost a road series to the Arizona Diamondbacks (9-12), who are in last-place in the NL West, before starting a homestand Friday and it wasn’t forgotten.
“I don’t know how much emotion plays into an outcome, but I think guys were a little upset after losing the series on the road,” Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts said. “To get a day off and stew on it, I thought we came out here and had good at-bats all the way around.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Tigers: INF prospect Ryan Kreidler has a broken right hand, which happened when he was hit by a pitch with Triple-A Toledo earlier this week. Kreidler is seeing experts and surgery is still a possibility, according to manager A.J. Hinch. “My understanding is it’s not a simple break,” Hinch said. “They took him for precautionary X-rays, which was worst-case scenario.”
Dodgers: LHP Andrew Heaney (shoulder inflammation) has not yet picked up a baseball in his recovery … RHP Blake Treinen (shoulder discomfort) is on paternity leave in addition to being on the injured list.
UP NEXT
Tigers RHP Beau Brieske (0-1, 5.40 ERA) faces ace Dodgers LHP Clayton Kershaw (3-0, 2.65) is off to a fantastic start with 23 strikeouts and no walks in three starts, spanning 17 innings. Kershaw has faced Detroit just twice in his career, going 1-0 with a 0.54 ERA. Brieske made his first MLB start against Colorado a week ago, allowing three earned runs on three hits in a 3-2 loss to the Rockies.
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