Dodgers blow out Blue Jays

Los Angeles scored in seven different innings and finished with 17 hits, so this was not one big swing so much as three straight hours of pressure at Rogers Centre on Monday, April 6. Toronto managed 5 hits and did not score after the first inning. (mlb.com) (baseball-reference.com) The game turned quickly because Teoscar Hernández hit a two-run home run in the first inning off Max Scherzer, and Los Angeles never gave the lead back. By the end of the second inning, Scherzer was out after 2 innings and 2 earned runs, which meant Toronto had to cover 7 more innings with its bullpen. (mlb.com) (espn.com) Dalton Rushing was the surprise center of the night. The Dodgers catcher reached base in all 5 plate appearances, went 4 for 4, and hit 2 solo home runs for his first career multihomer game. (mlb.com) (apnews.com) Shohei Ohtani added another home run, and Los Angeles finished with 5 home runs total. When one lineup sends up Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, Teoscar Hernández, Max Muncy, and then gets a four-hit night from a young catcher, pitchers do not get many quiet innings. (espn.com) (mlb.com) Justin Wrobleski kept Toronto from making the game interesting after the first inning. The Dodgers left-hander went 5 innings, allowed 2 hits and 1 earned run, and handed a rested back end of the bullpen a game that was already tilting hard toward Los Angeles. (espn.com) (baseball-reference.com) This came at the start of a series that carried extra weight because it was a rematch of the 2025 World Series. Los Angeles arrived in Toronto at 8-2 and on a four-game winning streak, while the Blue Jays fell to 4-6 and a five-game losing streak with the loss. (apnews.com) (espn.com) The early-season numbers are what make a 12-run game echo beyond one night. A result like 14-2 moves run differential in one jump, and run differential is often the cleanest quick snapshot of whether a hot start is built on close-game luck or on a team simply hitting and pitching better than everybody else. (baseball-reference.com) (espn.com) Los Angeles had already scored 31 runs in its previous series against Washington, then crossed the border and hung 14 more on Toronto in the opener. Forty-five runs across four wins is the kind of week that makes a division race feel tilted before tax day. (totalprosports.com) (mlb.com)