The Dodgers’ Mookie Betts celebrates with fans after hitting a solo home run during the second inning of their game against the Oakland A’s on Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium. (Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images)
Dodgers starting pitcher Tony Gonsolin throws to the plate during the first inning of their game against the Oakland A’s on Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium. (Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images)
Oakland A’s starting pitcher Hogan Harris throws to the plate during the first inning of their game against the Dodgers on Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
The Dodgers’ Chris Taylor hits an RBI single during the first inning of their game against the Oakland A’s on Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium. (Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images)
The Dodgers’ Chris Taylor hits an RBI single during the first inning of their game against the Oakland A’s on Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
The Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman, right, scores on a single hit by Chris Taylor during the first inning of their game against the Oakland A’s on Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Hogan Harris shows his frustration after allowing the Dodgers’ Will Smith to score on a ground out hit by James Outman during the first inning on Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Dodgers starting pitcher Tony Gonsolin throws to the plate during the first inning of their game against the Oakland A’s on Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
The Dodgers’ Mookie Betts hits a solo home run during the second inning of their game against the Oakland A’s on Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
The Dodgers’ Mookie Betts runs the bases after hitting a solo home run during the second inning of their game against the Oakland A’s on Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
The Dodgers’ Mookie Betts celebrates as he runs the bases after hitting a solo home run during the second inning of their game against the Oakland A’s on Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium. (Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images)
The Dodgers’ Mookie Betts, center, celebrates with Freddie Freeman after hitting a solo home run during the second inning of their game against the Oakland A’s on Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
The Dodgers’ Mookie Betts fist bumps a fan after hitting a solo home run during the second inning of their game against the Oakland A’s on Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
The Dodgers’ Mookie Betts celebrates after hitting a solo home run during the second inning of their game against the Oakland A’s on Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Oakland A’s starting pitcher Hogan Harris throws to the plate during the first inning of their game against the Dodgers on Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium. (Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images)
The Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman (5) celebrates as he returns to the dugout after scoring on a double hit by Will Smith during the second inning of their game against the Oakland A’s on Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
The Dodgers’ Amed Rosario celebrates as he runs the bases after hitting a two-run home run during the second inning of their game against the Oakland A’s on Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
The Dodgers’ Amed Rosario, left, celebrates with teammate Will Smith after hitting a two-run home run during the second inning of their game against the Oakland A’s on Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium. (Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images)
The Dodgers’ Amed Rosario celebrates with teammates in the dugout after hitting a two-run home run during the second inning of their game against the Oakland A’s on Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium. (Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images)
The Oakland Athletics’ Shea Langeliers, right, celebrates with Nick Allen after hitting a solo home run during the third inning of their game against the Dodgers on Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
The Oakland A’s Shea Langeliers, left, celebrates with teammate Tony Kemp after hitting a solo home run during the third inning of their game against the Dodgers on Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium. (Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images)
The Oakland Athletics’ Shea Langeliers celebrates in the dugout after hitting a solo home run during the third inning of their game against the Dodgers on Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
The Dodgers’ Miguel Rojas, left, celebrates with teammate Mookie Betts after after hitting a solo home run during the third inning of their game against the Oakland A’s on Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
The Dodgers’ Miguel Rojas celebrates with teammates in the dugout after hitting a solo home run during the third inning of their game against the Oakland A’s on Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium. Rojas’ first home run in more than a calendar year was one of four they hit in a 10-1 win. (Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images)
The Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman hits a double during the third inning of their game against the Oakland A’s on Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Oakland A’s relief pitcher Austin Pruitt throws to the plate during the fourth inning of their game against the Dodgers on Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium. (Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images)
Dodgers relief pitcher Yency Almonte throws to the plate during the sixth inning of their game against the Oakland A’s on Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium. (Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images)
The Dodgers’ Jason Heyward, right, celebrates with teammate Freddie Freeman after hitting a solo home run during the sixth inning of their game against the Oakland A’s on Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
The Dodgers’ Jason Heyward, left, celebrates with teammate David Peralta as he returns to the dugout after hitting a solo home run during the sixth inning of their game against the Oakland A’s on Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
The Dodgers’ Jason Heyward, left, celebrates with teammate David Peralta as he returns to the dugout after hitting a solo home run during the sixth inning of their game against the Oakland A’s on Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium. (Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images)
Dodgers second baseman Amed Rosario throws to first after forcing out the Oakland A’s Ramon Laureano during the ninth inning on Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium. (Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images)
Dodgers second baseman Amed Rosario, left, throws to first after forcing out the Oakland Athletics’ Ramon Laureano at second during the ninth inning on Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium. Shea Langeliers was safe at first. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Dodgers relief pitcher Ryan Brasier throws to the plate during the ninth inning of their game against the Oakland A’s on Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium. (Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images)
Dodgers relief pitcher Ryan Brasier, right, hugs catcher Will Smith after the final out of their 10-1 victory over the Oakland A’s on Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Dodgers outfielders James Outman, left, David Peralta, center, and Jason Heyward celebrate after their 10-1 victory over the Oakland A’s on Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium. (Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images)
Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, center, celebrates with relief pitcher Ryan Brasier, left, and catcher Will Smith after their 10-1 victory over the Oakland A’s on Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, center, celebrates with relief pitcher Ryan Brasier (57) after their 10-1 victory over the Oakland A’s on Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Crew members work on the pitcher’s mound before a game between the Dodgers and the Oakland A’s on Wednesday at Dodger Stadium. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Crew members create a tribute to longtime Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully between second and third base before a game between the Dodgers and the Oakland A’s on Wednesday at Dodger Stadium. It marked one year since Scully’s death. (AP Photo/Beth Harris)
LOS ANGELES — For 401 days during which he played in 156 games and went to home plate 549 times, Miguel Rojas lived life like most of us do – without hitting a home run in a major-league game.
Then the Oakland A’s came to town.
Rojas’ first home run since last June 26 was just one of the rarities dropped off by the woebegone A’s goodwill tour of big-league ballparks. Jason Heyward also hit his first home run off a left-handed pitcher since May 2021 as part of a 10-1 victory for the Dodgers on Wednesday night.
The Dodgers (61-45) have outscored the A’s – equally awful at their soon-to-be-vacated home (15-39) and on the road (15-40) – by a 17-4 margin in winning the first two games of this series. Every player in the Dodgers’ starting lineup Wednesday had at least one of their 13 hits except Max Muncy, who walked twice.
“We’re taking care of business. I think that’s a sign of a very good ballclub,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.
The A’s push-over status this season makes these must-win games for any team, like the Dodgers, trying to pile up enough victories to claim a playoff spot.
“Obviously the answer is every game is hard to win,” Roberts said to that. “But I do believe that a team that is rebuilding right now and players that don’t have a lot of major-league service, these are games we expect to win. Not to take anything away from that ballclub, but when you’re running out the guys that we’re running out there, trying to win the division, we have to win games like this playing at home.”
The Dodgers wasted no time putting the A’s out of their nightly misery Wednesday. The first three batters in the bottom of the first inning reached base and all worked their way around to score. Ten of the first 14 Dodgers batters reached base. Seven of them scored before there were two outs in the second inning. Amed Rosario’s first home run as a Dodger made it a 7-0 headstart.
Mookie Betts had a double and a home run in his first two at-bats then took the rest of the night off. The home run was a 436-foot drive, the longest Betts has hit with the Dodgers and such a no-doubter that A’s left fielder Tony Kemp never moved, not even turning around to watch its contrail.
Freddie Freeman had hits in each of the first three innings, extending a streak of seven consecutive at-bats with hits. He also called it a night early.
That left room for Rojas and Heyward to flex their muscles.
Rojas’ homer was a modest 383-foot fly ball that dropped just over the wall in left field. When he reached the dugout, his teammates ignored him, giving him the silent treatment as if it was his first in the major leagues.
“It’s not my first one, but it feels like it,” Rojas joked.
“I knew the guys were gonna play a trick on me and do the silent treatment and all that, but I don’t care. I told Dave when I got to the dugout that I’m gonna dance by myself right here. I don’t care, I’ve been waiting for this moment for so long.”
Acquired for his glove, not his bat, Rojas has actually had a Shohei Ohtani-like homestand – he made the first pitching appearance of his career in a lopsided loss to the Cincinnati Reds on Sunday afternoon.
“It’s definitely been kind of disappointing for my own eyes because I expect a lot more from me, at least to be more productive on a daily basis,” said Rojas, who is hitting .217 with a .545 OPS. “But I can’t sit here and say I’m gonna feel bad for myself, because I’m playing on a team that is 16 games over .500 and playing shortstop. I’m gonna keep doing whatever the team needs me to be doing, for me to keep helping the team, if it’s defense, running the bases, being a voice out on the field. But if I can get myself going for these last couple months, it’s going to be important for us.”
A year after the Chicago Cubs told him they were done with him, Heyward feels nothing but pride about what he’s been able to do this year.
His 11th home run of the season (his best since 2019) left the bat at 104.8 mph and landed 406 feet away in the right field pavilion. It came on the first pitch he saw from lefty reliever Kirby Snead in the sixth inning. It was Heyward’s first home run off a lefty since he took former Cubs teammate Jon Lester (then pitching for the Washington Nationals) deep on May 17, 2021.
“Keep going. Just keep pushing,” Heyward said. “There’s days, there’s at-bats you’d love to have back, pitches you’d love to have back. Then there’s times like that when you do your job, get ready and get rewarded. It’s a huge testament to the work I’ve been putting in with the coaching staff, the guys I get to work with on a daily basis. There’s a lot of great examples.”
With all of that going on, Tony Gonsolin picked the right day to pitch.
Gonsolin went five innings for the fourth consecutive start, allowing six hits but just one run on a solo home run by Shea Langeliers. The A’s had just one hit in the final four innings against Dodgers relievers Yency Almonte, Alex Vesia and Ryan Brasier.
Dodger teammates had fun with Miguel Rojas after he hit his first homer of the year. They gave him the silent treatment in the dugout after the homer, and he was given this joke ball in his locker, as if the actual home run ball was retrieved. pic.twitter.com/J3dbEuRtup
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