Venezuelan Gabriel Moreno takes down Dodgers with a grand slam
The Barquisimeto native's home run, his first of the year, also drove in his compatriot Eugenio Suárez and Americans Pavin Smith and Josh Naylo.
Gabriel Moreno rounding the bases after a home run
With a monumental four-run home run, Venezuelan Gabriel Moreno commanded the Arizona Diamondbacks' 5-3 win Thursday against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Major League Baseball action.
Moreno opened the scoring against the defending World Series champions in the fourth inning with a 376-foot missile to right-center field off Japanese pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
The Barquisimeto native's home run, his first of the year, also drove in his compatriot Eugenio Suárez and Americans Pavin Smith and Josh Naylor.
Dominican Ketel Marte put the Diamondbacks up 5-0 with a homer in the fifth inning, also his first of the season, after which the Dodgers pulled Yamamoto for reliever Jack Dreyer.
The Dodgers responded down the stretch with a double by Max Muncy and Mookie Betts' homer to lead off the eighth inning at Chase Field in Phoenix.
Cuban Andy Pages then connected for his seventh hit in the last five games to bring in Will Smith.
Japanese star Shohei Ohtani, the face of the Dodgers franchise, further tightened the score with his 11th home run of the year in the ninth inning.
But closer Kevin Ginkel neutralized Betts' final attempt and cemented Arizona's victory in the opener of this four-game series.
The Dodgers remain atop the NL West division with a 25-13 record, and just one win ahead of the Padres and Giants, while the D-backs are fourth in the same division (20-18).
Thursday's game featured other great performances by Venezuelan baseball players such as Gleyber Torres, who was a standout in the Detroit Tigers' two thrashings of the Colorado Rockies.
The former Yankee accumulated three hits and four RBIs in the doubleheader, which ended in 11-1 and 10-2 victories for the Tigers.
Detroit had not scored at least 10 runs in both games of a doubleheader since 1947.
Venezuelan Salvador Pérez, meanwhile, also contributed two hits and three runs batted in to the Kansas City Royals' 10-0 win over the Chicago White Sox.
In his turn, Cuban Yandy Díaz connected a three-run homer in the Tampa Bay Rays' 7-6 defeat to the Philadelphia Phillies.
LATEST
