MLB LOOK AHEAD

Bellinger aims for HR mark; L.A. shoots for 20 wins

Field Level Media

April 29, 2019 at 4:23 am.

April 28, 2019; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Cody Bellinger (35) hits a sacrifice RBI against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the first inning at Dodger Stadium. Photo Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

April 28, 2019; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Cody Bellinger (35) hits a sacrifice RBI against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the first inning at Dodger Stadium. Photo Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Cody Bellinger already leads the majors in hitting and is tied for the most homers with Milwaukee’s Christian Yelich.

With one more homer before the end of April, he will be a record-holder.

Bellinger gets another crack at setting a major league-record with his 15th homer before May 1 Monday night when the Los Angeles Dodgers visit the rival San Francisco Giants for the opener of a three-game series.

Bellinger heads to San Francisco with a .427 average that is 42 points higher than anyone in baseball. He also owns a 1.413 OPS that leads the majors by far and his 14 homers give him two chances at setting the mark for the most homers hit before the calendar hits May.

Albert Pujols (2006) and Alex Rodriguez (2007) shared the record before this weekend and then Yelich hit his 14th homer on Saturday against the New York Mets. Bellinger made it a four-person record by homering in the fourth inning against Trevor Williams in a 7-6 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday.

“Pretty special. Those are incredible players,” Bellinger said. “To be in the same boat as those guys is pretty cool.”

Bellinger also has reached safely in 28 of 29 games, leads the majors with 30 runs scored, 44 hits and 36 RBIs to go along with a major league-best .500 on-base percentage that is four points ahead of Mike Trout.

“I’m understanding how to use my swing and working in the cage every day to repeat what I’m doing,” Bellinger said. “Just not trying to do too much. It’s fun, for sure. Every day before the game, I know what I want to do. The days I feel off, it’s knowing what it is I want to do and getting it back.”

Bellinger’s torrid opening month is helping the Dodgers pile up wins. He helped the Dodgers get their fourth straight win Sunday and 11th in 14 games, putting Los Angeles in position to become the first team in the majors to reach 20 wins.

While the Dodgers were enjoying the continuation of Bellinger’s historic opening month, the Giants were getting outscored 24-12 in a three-game sweep at home to the New York Yankees.

“I felt that (urgency) this series, to be honest,” San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy said. “With where we’re at, hopefully we all feel that. It didn’t go well. As they say, you don’t win anything (in April) but you can certainly bury yourself.”

San Francisco has lost seven of its last 10 and its .210 batting average is second-worst in the majors.

Against the Yankees on Sunday, the Giants never led and trailed 8-0 before scoring four runs in the sixth. Kevin Pillar drove in three runs but is hitting .196 and is part of a lineup that features several regulars in slumps.

Brandon Crawford is 6-for-50 in his last 15 games, Joe Panik is 9-for-54 in his last 16 while Evan Longoria is batting just .204.

One player not slumping of late is Buster Posey, who did not play Sunday and is hitting .345 (10-for-29) in his last nine games.

Kenta Maeda starts for Los Angeles Monday and hopes to rebound from one of his worst career outings. In Tuesday’s 7-2 loss at Wrigley Field to the Cubs, he allowed six runs on seven hits in four innings.

The right-hander is 4-3 with a 4.58 ERA in 11 career appearances (seven starts) against the Giants. He also is 0-2 with an 8.16 ERA in six appearances (three starts) in San Francisco.

Jeff Samardzija starts for the Giants and hopes to continue his decent start to the season. He has allowed two earned runs or fewer in three of his five starts.

He last pitched Tuesday in Toronto when he allowed two runs on five hits in 5 1/3 innings of a 7-6 win.

Samardzija is 1-4 with a 4.06 ERA in eight career appearances (six starts) against Los Angeles.