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The Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres had been racking up plenty of runs through the first two games of the season-opening Seoul Series, but it took them a while to clear the fence.
Naturally, it was superstar Mookie Betts who finally went yard at Gocheok Sky Dome.
Betts became the first player to hit a home run during the 2024 MLB regular season, blasting a two-run shot to left-center in the bottom of the fifth. Between the seven runs scored in the Dodgers' win on Wednesday and the 16 runs scored to that point on Thursday, none of them had come via home run until Betts broke the streak.
The second baseman-turned-outfielder-turned-shortstop was facing a 3-1 count from right-hander Michael King with one down in the frame. King delivered a 94 mile-per-hour sinker that cut inside, and Betts wound up roping the ball 400 feet.
Betts' homer had an exit velocity of 101.5 miles per hour and a 29 degree launch angle.
The first HR of the 2024 season belongs to @mookiebetts! #SeoulSeries pic.twitter.com/PtSrfxBHNY
— MLB (@MLB) March 21, 2024
Betts hit a career-high 39 home runs in 2023, finishing top-two in MVP voting for the fourth time in eight seasons. He has appeared in each of the last seven All-Star Games, averaging 31 homers a year in that span – not including the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign.
The former Boston Red Sox standout now has 253 home runs in his career. If Thursday's bomb was a sign of things to come for Betts, he could be joining the 300 home run club sooner rather than later.
Even with Betts' powerful bat delivering multiple runs, Los Angeles still trails San Diego 12-8 in the seventh inning. Blockbuster free agent addition Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed five runs in the first inning of his MLB debut, which put the Dodgers in a hole right off the bat.
The Dodgers won Game 1 of the Seoul Series 5-2, but would drop to .500 with a loss Thursday.
Betts, who drew a walk in the seventh, is now batting .625 with an 1.825 OPS and five RBI through nine plate appearances this season.
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