James Outman had a memorable major league debut, falling behind the cycle just three times as the Dodgers ended a series win over the Rockies with a 7-3 win at Coors Field on Sunday.
Outman has been smiling since his first call-up to the majors on Saturday, and he made his major league debut on Sunday. With a large contingent of family and friends watching in the stands, Outman came out swinging and took a pass in nine of the 15 spots he saw.
Coming up for the first time, with Cody Bellinger at first base in the third inning, Outman slammed a 1-1 sinker from Germán Márquez 405 feet into the right midfield seats, joining a select company along the way.
Outman is the eighth dodger to homer in her first major league at bat and only the fourth since the franchise moved to Los Angeles — along with Jose Offerman (1990), Garey Ingram (1994), and Keibert Ruiz (2020).
In the seventh inning, Outman singled and later scored a double from Freddie Freeman. That made Outman the first Dodger with a multi-hit major league debut since Gavin Lux in 2019, but he wasn’t done yet.
Outman doubled Lux in eighth and made the 2018 seventh-round draft pick from Sacramento State the 14th Dodger with three hits in a major league debut and the first since Mike Piazza in 1992. Outman is one of just three of those Three-hit debut group to also be homer in the game, joining Offerman and Ernie Koy (1938).
Outman is one of only two LA Dodgers to drive at least three runs in a debut. The other is Rob Segedin, who completed four runs on August 7, 2016.
Outman played his first six major league innings in right field and then finished the game in left. He batted ninth place and helped anchor the bottom third of the lineup. Bellinger, who ran ahead of Outman’s home run in the third inning, doubled a run home in the fourth inning, a play that also included an error that gave the Dodgers the lead.
Dodgers rookies are getting .750/.750/1.750 this season. Every single one of those record appearances was by Outman on Sunday.
Max Muncy, who batted in seventh, walked and scored in the fourth and delivered a sacrificial fly in the sixth.
Tony Gonsolin got into trouble in the third inning, starting with a home run by former Palm Desert High School catcher Brian Serven. Gonsolin with an out pitched to José Iglesias and then went to Kris Bryant.
A dribble into no man’s land on Brendan Rodgers’ third baseline filled the bases, and Randal Grichuk continued his memorable weekend with a two-run singles. The Rockies outfielder was 7-for-16 (.438) with two triples and eight RBI during the four-game streak.
Gonsolin escaped further damage in the frame thanks to a double play and started a run of seven straight batters who retired. But at 92 pitches, Gonsolin’s day was over in five innings, allowing those three third-inning runs but nothing else while striking out six.
Sunday information
home runs: James Outman (1); Bryan Serven (4)
WP — Tony Gonsolin (12-1): 5 IP, 5 hits, 3 runs, 1 walk, 6 strikeouts
LP — Germán Márquez (6-9): 6 IP, 6 hits, 5 runs (4 earned), 2 walks, 4 strikeouts
Next
The Dodgers’ road trip is moving west to San Francisco for their third series with four of four games since the All-Star hiatus. Andrew Heaney begins Monday (6:45 p.m. SportsNet LA) with the series opener for the Dodgers, with Logan Webb serving for the Giants.