Dodgers Stat of the Day: April 2021

MLB.com is keeping track of a Stat of the Day for the Dodgers this season, highlighting a unique, interesting or fun nugget from each game.

April 30: Brewers 3, Dodgers 1 -- Losses coming in bunches
With a loss to the Brewers on Friday, the Dodgers have now dropped nine of their last 12 games. It's the first time the Dodgers have lost that many games in a 12-game span since Aug. 10-22, 2018. Despite the recent skid, the Dodgers wrapped up the first month of the season with a 16-12 record.

April 29: Brewers 2, Dodgers 1 -- Betts' on-base streak
While Mookie Betts is certainly not swinging the bat like he or the Dodgers expect, the star outfielder is still finding ways to get on base on a nightly basis. With a single against the Brewers on Thursday, Betts extended his Major League-leading on-base streak to 21 games.

April 28: Dodgers 8, Reds 0 -- Clayton the Scoreless
With seven shutout innings in the Dodgers' 8-0 win over the Reds, Clayton Kershaw recorded his 83rd career scoreless start. That ties him with Randy Johnson for sixth all time. Kershaw only trails Nolan Ryan, Greg Maddux, Roger Clemens, Don Sutton and Tom Seaver.

April 27: Reds 6, Dodgers 5 -- Buehler fans double-digits
Walker Buehler struck out a season-high 10 batters against the Reds. It was the ninth time in his career that he reached double-digit strikeouts, but this was the first time that the Dodgers lost the game.

April 26: Reds 5, Dodgers 3 -- Muncy's historic free passes
With two walks in the series opener, Max Muncy has been walked nine times in the last three games, tying Greg Brock and Jack Fournier for the most in franchise history in a three-game span since 1901. Muncy came close to drawing a third walk on Monday, which would've tied him for the second-most in a three-game span by any player since 1901.

April 25: Padres 8, Dodgers 7 -- May dominates Padres
Dustin May struck out a career-high 10 batters in the series finale vs. the Padres at Dodger Stadium. At 23 years and 231 days old, May became the youngest Dodgers pitcher to record 10 or more punchouts in a game since Clayton Kershaw on Sept. 4, 2011. Kershaw was 23 years and 169 days old for that one, and it was his 15th career start with 10 K's or more.

April 24: Dodgers 5, Padres 4 -- Offense comes to life
The Dodgers broke out of their recent slump in a big way. Over their last three games, the Dodgers had combined for just 12 hits, going 1-2 during that span. They were able to match that hit total in a win over their National League West rivals.

April 23: Padres 6, Dodgers 1 -- Bats held in check
The Dodgers recorded just four hits in the loss. Over their past six games, the Dodgers have just 23 hits, matching their lowest hit total in a six-game span since September 1909.

April 22: Padres 3, Dodgers 2 -- That's 1 Neuse home run
Sheldon Neuse was a late addition to the Dodgers' lineup, but he took full advantage of the opportunity, launching a solo home run in the seventh inning off Emilio Pagán. It was Neuse's first hit with the Dodgers and his first career homer. He became the 756th player to hit a home run with the Dodgers.

April 20: Dodgers 1, Mariners 0 -- An odd pattern
There were three total hits in the Dodgers' victory at T-Mobile Park on Tuesday. Including that game, each of the last three MLB games with no more than three total hits have involved the Dodgers: March 3, 2018 (1-0 loss vs. the Giants), and July 9, 2011 (1-0 win vs. the Padres).

April 19: Mariners 4, Dodgers 3 -- Has it really been that long?
By dropping the series opener at T-Mobile Park, the Dodgers lost back-to-back regular-season games for the first time since Sept. 10-12 last season against the D-backs and Astros. Since Sept. 13, the Dodgers are 24-7 in regular-season games.

April 18: Padres 5, Dodgers 2 -- Bauer racks up K’s
With seven strikeouts against San Diego, Trevor Bauer became just the third Dodgers pitcher since 1901 to start a season with four games of seven or more strikeouts. Bauer joined Sandy Koufax in 1962 and Tom Candiotti in 1992.

April 17: Dodgers 2, Padres 0 -- Kershaw, two-way threat
Aside from tossing six scoreless innings, Clayton Kershaw also made his presence felt at the plate, drawing a bases-loaded walk in the fifth against Yu Darvish. The last Dodgers pitcher to draw a bases-loaded walk in the regular season was also Kershaw on June 24, 2017. If you include the postseason, it was Darvish who accomplished it, in Game 3 of the 2017 NL Championship Series against the Cubs.

April 16: Dodgers 11, Padres 6 (12 innings) -- Raley's first HR
With his solo home run in the fifth inning, outfielder Luke Raley became the 755th player in franchise history to hit a homer. He also became the first Dodgers player to homer while wearing No. 62.

April 15: Dodgers 7, Rockies 5 -- Acting like the champs
With their win in the series finale, the Dodgers became the first defending World Series champions to start 11-2 or better through the first 13 games of the season.

April 14: Dodgers 4, Rockies 2 -- Turner's power surge
With his third-inning homer on Wednesday, Justin Turner has now hit three home runs in 41 at-bats in April. He came into the season with just three career home runs in 521 at-bats in the month of April. Turner is tied with Zach McKinstry for the team lead in homers with three and leads the team with a 1.166 OPS.

April 13: Dodgers 7, Rockies 0 -- LA has Colorado's number
After riding four home runs and a Trevor Bauer gem to victory in the series opener, the Dodgers are 11-4 against the Rockies during the last two seasons and 93-56 against Colorado since 2013. Overall, Los Angeles is 344-234 against the National League West during the last nine seasons.

April 11: Dodgers 3, Nationals 0 -- Win No. 177 adds Kershaw to select group of pitchers
With a win on Sunday, Kershaw joined an elite group of pitchers who are 100 or more games over .500 in their careers. Kershaw improved to 177-77 in his career. He became the ninth pitcher to join the exclusive club, joining Pedro Martinez (219-100), Roger Clemens (354-184), Randy Johnson (303-166), Jim Palmer (268-152), Mike Mussina (270-153), Greg Maddux (355-227) and Tom Glavine (305-203).

April 10: Dodgers 9, Nationals 5 -- Turner's on-base streak
Justin Turner reached base safely twice in the Dodgers’ win over the Nationals on Saturday. With his performance, the third baseman extended his on-base streak to 39 games. That ties him with Jeff Kent, Steve Sax and Billy Grabarkewitz for the fourth-longest on-base streak in franchise history.

April 9: Dodgers 1, Nationals 0 -- Buehler's feat
Walker Buehler completed six or more scoreless innings for the 14th time in his career, which is tied for the fourth most in the Majors since 2018. The rest of the list: Jacob deGrom (16), Hyun Jin Ryu (16), Zack Greinke (15) and Jon Lester (14).

April 7: A's 4, Dodgers 3 -- First-inning plate discipline
The Dodgers are among the most disciplined hitters in the game. Just ask opposing pitchers in the first inning.

Opposing pitchers are throwing an average of 24 pitches against the Dodgers in the first inning this season. On Wednesday, the Dodgers forced Oakland starter Jesús Luzardo to throw 35 pitches in the first inning.

April 6: Dodgers 5, A's 1 -- Kershaw passes Don Sutton in total strikeouts
With eight strikeouts in Tuesday's win over the A's, Clayton Kershaw passed Don Sutton for most strikeouts -- regular season and postseason combined -- by a Dodgers pitcher, with 2,743. Sutton, whose previous record was 2,739, is still the franchise's all-time regular-season strikeout leader with 2,696. Kershaw has 2,536 strikeouts in the regular season, and an MLB-record 207 in the postseason.

April 5: Dodgers 10, A's 3 -- As the Baylor Bears go, so goes Muncy
Max Muncy recorded three hits and scored a pair of runs in the Dodgers' 10-3 win against the A's. Muncy attended Baylor University, becoming the first player in Major League history to record three or more hits the same night his alma mater wins the men's basketball Division 1 National Championship.

April 4: Dodgers 4, Rockies 2 -- Urías dominates at Coors
Julio Urías became the seventh Dodgers pitcher to toss seven-plus innings and allow three or fewer hits in a start at Coors Field. The last one to accomplish the feat was Clayton Kershaw on July 4, 2014. The other five to accomplish it were: Chad Billingsley, Greg Maddux, Chan Ho Park, Kevin Brown and Hideo Nomo.

April 3: Dodgers 6, Rockies 5 -- A rare career first
Zach McKinstry, who hit an inside-the-park home run in the eighth inning on Saturday, became the first Dodgers player to hit an inside-the-parker for his first career homer since Duke Snider on May 2, 1948. McKinstry also became the first Dodger to hit an inside-the-park homer since Chris Taylor on September 18, 2017.

April 2: Dodgers 11, Rockies 6 -- Liner after liner
The Dodgers wasted no time getting on the scoreboard and they did it with a relentless attack. Los Angeles had seven line drives in the first inning against the Rockies, the first time the Dodgers have accomplished that since April 22, 2011, against the Cubs. Five of the seven liners had an exit velocity of 92.0 mph or higher. (Source: Inside Edge)

April 1: Rockies 8, Dodgers 5 -- Trouble at Coors
After a rough Spring Training, Clayton Kershaw struggled in his first start of the regular season in the Dodgers' loss to the Rockies on Opening Day. Kershaw allowed 10 or more hits for just the eighth time in his career. Three of those eight have come at Coors Field.