PHOENIX — The game was so out of hand by the eighth inning, relief pitcher Evan Phillips had a plate appearance … and drew a walk.
The game was so out of reach by the ninth, infielder Hanser Alberto took the mound … and recorded the final three outs without yielding a run.
Really, the Dodgers’ 14-1 win against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday was over almost as soon as it began.
The Dodgers opened the scoring after four pitches — back-to-back doubles from Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman — and led by two runs after the first.
They added four more runs in the second inning — including a three-run homer from Freeman — and hung another four-spot in the sixth.
In the end, every starter had at least two hits, and the team’s 24 total knocks came one shy of tying a Los Angeles franchise record.
“These are the kind of nights you just sit back and smile,” Freeman said. “These don’t happen very often.”
Freeman was the brightest star on a night almost every member of the Dodgers lineup shined, going four for five with five RBIs and his first home run since April 24.
Betts had another big game, going three for five with a walk and three runs scored.
Cody Bellinger, Edwin Rios and Chris Taylor also had three hits each, with the latter launching a two-run blast in the eighth inning for good measure.
“Obviously Freddie had a huge night, Mookie continues to be out of this world, and then you get CT, he’s starting to get going, which has been great,” manager Dave Roberts said. “Just up and down the lineup, just solid at-bats.”
The only missing piece was Max Muncy, who was out of the lineup Thursday and is likely headed to the injured list because of an issue with his left elbow — the same one in which he sustained a torn ulnar collateral ligament at the end of last year, an injury he has struggled to bounce back from this season.
Roberts said the problem worsened after Muncy banged his elbow into a wall while trying to catch a fly ball in Washington earlier this week. While a roster move wasn’t made Thursday, the team did add Kevin Pillar to the taxi squad just in case.
“We all know he’s been grinding with the arm issue,” Roberts said. “I’m going to give him some time off to kind of reset the arm … I don’t know if there’s an aggravation in there. But we just have to kind of temper back a little bit.”
Even without Muncy, though, the Dodgers had no issues dismantling the Diamondbacks’ pitching staff.
Freeman struck the biggest blows, following Betts’ leadoff double in the first inning with a two-bagger of his own before scoring on a Will Smith single two batters later.
The lead was 3-0 when Freeman returned to the plate with two aboard in the second. After fouling off a curveball and two sliders, Freeman rocketed another slider over the inner half of the plate 389 feet. It was his fourth home run of the season and first in 29 games.
Freeman said he hadn’t been worried about his home run drought, even after several close calls earlier on this road trip, including three flyouts of 350 feet during a game in Philadelphia last weekend and a line drive off the top of the wall in Washington on Tuesday.
“I think I got a little too big (with my swing) the last couple games,” Freeman said. “Talked with my dad yesterday and he said, ‘It looks like you’re swinging too hard.’ … It’s amazing what happens when you don’t try to do too much.”
Freeman wasn’t done. After Betts hit a leadoff single in the sixth inning, the prized offseason signing put a charge into a deep drive to center. It hit just below the yellow line at Chase Field, bouncing back into play for another RBI double.
Freeman’s 18 doubles this season are tied for most in the majors, and also matched the most through 44 games in franchise history, equaling Jackie Robinson’s mark from 1950.
“He’s a guy that, you just know the production is going to be there,” Roberts said.
On Thursday, that was true for almost everyone the Dodgers sent to the plate.
