Dodgers bash their way to MLB history with record-tying seven 20-homer hitters

Home runs are dramatically up in MLB this season and that means some home run history will inevitably be made. The Dodgers fulfilled that idea Wednesday, entering the history books with a booming homer from Matt Kemp in the second inning of their game against the Rockies.

Kemp’s solo shot bumped his season total up to 20 and gave the Dodgers their seventh 20-homer hitter on the season, tying an MLB record for most 20-homer hitters on a team in a single season. The Los Angeles group now includes Kemp, Cody Bellinger, Yasmani Grandal, Enrique Hernandez, Max Muncy, Joc Pederson and Yasiel Puig.

The Dodgers came close to such a mark last year with six players reaching the milestone, and they managed to hit seven this year without three of the hitters from last year (Corey Seager, Chris Taylor and Justin Turner).

The Dodgers are also the first National League team to reach the mark, which makes sense considering American League teams have the added opportunity of the designated hitter to make a lineup deep enough for seven 20-homer hitters.

The other seven teams to reach the seven 20-homer hitter mark are the 2017 Orioles, 2010 Blue Jays, 2009 Yankees, 2005 Rangers, 2000 Blue Jays and the 1996 Orioles. Funnily enough, five of those six teams are in the AL East, but only one came from the Yankees or Red Sox.

This isn’t the only record of this kind that the Dodgers own, as they were also the first team to feature four 30-homer hitters in a season in 1977 with Dusty Baker, Ron Cey, Steve Garvey and Reggie Smith. That record has never been surpassed, but it has been tied by 11 subsequent teams, many of which occurred during the steroid era.

As fun as that piece of statistical trivia is, the much better news for the Dodgers was the outcome of their game and series against the Rockies. With Wednesday’s 5-2 win, the Dodgers completed a sweep of their division rival and moved into a 2.5-game lead in the NL West with nine games remaining.

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