Dozier's 1st Dodgers HR leads to curtain call

LOS ANGELES -- By the fifth inning of his first game with the Dodgers, Brian Dozier hit a home run that probably wouldn't have been one in Minnesota and had taken his first curtain call.
Dozier has 17 home runs this year, so he knew his way around the bases in a 6-4, 10-inning win for the Dodgers over the Brewers on Wednesday night. But the curtain call, that still needs some work.
"I had a lot of different emotions," said Dozier, acquired from the Twins on Tuesday for Logan Forsythe and two Minor Leaguers. "When the crowd gets into it, OK, it's that time. But it's the first game, what do I do? [Kiké Hernández] grabbed me and said, 'Get out there.'"

Although Dozier had struck out and committed a throwing error by the second inning, his fifth-inning homer followed Yasmani Grandal's first homer of the night and tied the game. He singled leading off a two-run rally in the seventh, doubled in the eighth and was on deck when Grandal's second home run won it.
"Brian had a tremendous game," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. "He was on base all night long. We've obviously been on Brian for the last few years. We love the way he plays the game. The last three years, he's been a really strong finisher, he likes it when it warms up, and we've got warm weather in Los Angeles. So I think there's a lot more to come."

Roberts started Dozier at second base batting fifth, after Grandal and ahead of Cody Bellinger.
"For me, the lineup is so deep," Dozier said. "All those guys to rake in front of you, it's a really cool thing to see."
Dozier's home run had a Statcast™-projected distance of 413 feet to straightaway center field, although he pointed out that Dodger Stadium's fence is 395 feet from home. Target Field in Minnesota, where Dozier used to play his home games, is 404 feet to center.
"I love the 395 to center," Dozier said. "That's a cool thing. I'm not used to that."