Dodgers 8, Giants 2: Betts Twice, Then Four Homers in the Eighth

A leadoff shot, a 2-1 hole, and then the eighth would not stop

September 18, 2026 - Los Angeles - Mookie Betts led off the bottom of the first with his 21st homer to left-center at Dodger Stadium. Jung Hoo Lee answered with his 10th to right in the second. Jonah Cox singled Scott Bandura home in the third. The San Francisco Giants led 2-1, and the night still looked like a division game in September.

It did not stay that way. The Los Angeles Dodgers hit four home runs in the eighth and won 8-2. Friday was the 20th anniversary of the "4+1" game, the MLB recap said, when Jeff Kent, J.D. Drew, Russell Martin, and Marlon Anderson went back-to-back-to-back-to-back in the ninth against the Padres and Nomar Garciaparra won it in the 10th. This version did not need extras. It needed Philip Abner to throw an inning he will not want back.

Clear. 72 degrees. Wind 6 mph out to right. First pitch 7:15 p.m. Attendance 48,145. The game lasted 2 hours, 38 minutes. Los Angeles had 11 hits. San Francisco had five. Shohei Ohtani was not in the lineup.

De Paula tied it, then put them in front, then the eighth arrived

Josue De Paula singled and scored the tying run on Teoscar Hernández's single in the fifth. 2-2. The ESPN recap noted De Paula is 21 and finishing his first week in the majors. In the sixth he doubled Kyle Tucker home. 3-2. That was the go-ahead. Cesar Perdomo had already left after 4 2/3, two runs, six hits, three walks, one strikeout. Jason Foley (3-2) took the loss on De Paula's double.

Tyler Glasnow (5-1) threw six innings. Three hits. Two runs. Two walks. Ten strikeouts, a season high, the ESPN recap said. Ninety-eight pitches. The two runs were Lee's homer and Cox's single. Everything after the third was a zero. Kris Bubic and Tanner Scott each threw a scoreless inning. Edwin Díaz struck out two in a scoreless ninth in his return from the injured list.

Then the eighth. Max Muncy homered to right-center, his 29th. 4-2. Tucker homered to right-center, his 17th. 5-2. Back-to-back. De Paula was on when Betts hit his 22nd to left-center. 7-2. Will Smith homered to center, his eighth. 8-2. Four homers. Five runs. Abner, the ESPN recap said, became the second reliever in Giants history to allow four homers in one inning. The distances the recap listed: Muncy 420, Tucker 403.

Betts finished 3-for-4 with two homers, a walk, two runs, and three RBI. Tucker went 2-for-3 with the homer, a walk, and two runs. De Paula had two hits, a double, a walk, two runs, and an RBI. Smith added the last ball of the inning. Hernández had two hits and the tying RBI. That is an offense the MLB recap said has a high floor even without Ohtani.

Twenty years later, and the floor did not drop

Manager Dave Roberts, per the MLB recap: "It's a high-floor talent level. I just like the way we're taking better team at-bats, and making up for not having Shohei in there. Obviously we're a better team with him, but it is nice to see that there hasn't been a dropoff with him not in the lineup."

Los Angeles is 94-60. The MLB recap said the Dodgers remain four games ahead of Atlanta for the second-best record in the National League and two behind Milwaukee for the best. Eight games left. A first-round bye still runs through those two clubs. San Francisco is 64-90. The ESPN recap said it is their 90th loss, the most since 98 in 2017. Lee had the homer. Cox had the RBI. The rest of the card was five hits against a staff that struck out 14.

Glasnow's 10 strikeouts are the pitching half of an 8-2 that the eighth inning will own. The first six innings still matter. A 2-1 deficit against a rival in September is a game you can lose. Ten strikeouts and a 21-year-old's double are why they did not.

A rivalry night that was already a clinched West

The Dodgers clinched the National League West on Thursday in Cincinnati. Friday was the first home game after the champagne. Díaz is back. Ohtani was out. Betts hit two. The eighth hit four. That is a club that has already booked October and is still taking at-bats like the seed is open, because it is.

Saturday the series continues. The Giants are playing out a 90-loss season. The Dodgers are playing for Milwaukee and Atlanta. Those are not the same assignment.

AthX Engine after the baseball

AthX Engine (our projection and scoring system) put Betts at 15 hitting fantasy points, first among hitters on the slate. Tucker had 9. Smith had 7. De Paula had 7. Glasnow had 21 pitching FP. Los Angeles finished with 17 team FP, tied for third. San Francisco finished at minus-5.

Fantasy points measure the night under platform scoring rules. Share prices also move with traders through dynamic pricing. They are related. They are not the same number.

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*Sources: ESPN recap and box score, MLB.com Gameday wrap, MLB.com schedule, and AthX Engine scoring. Information only; not financial advice.*