Dodgers' bats fully awake in 18-hit romp, led by Call (4-for-5, HR, 2B)

DENVER -- Prior to Tuesday’s game against the Rockies at Coors Field, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts lamented that his club “fell asleep” after scoring early in Monday night’s walk-off loss to open the series.

“Yesterday, I thought we sort of let our guard down,” Roberts said. “Hopefully, we can reset it and play with some intensity tonight.”

Following an 11-4 win over Colorado, it seems the reset button has been pressed with authority.

“Really pleased with tonight,” Roberts said. “I thought you saw a different ballclub tonight.”

Tuesday’s performance was more reminiscent of what you’d expect from the defending World Series champions, particularly after they seemed to have righted the ship to some degree with a big sweep of the Padres to recapture first place in the National League West over the weekend.

When they were stunned on Monday by the club with the worst record in MLB, Roberts didn’t sugarcoat the situation.

The Dodgers responded Tuesday by again scoring early, but this time, they didn’t relent, scoring two in the first, two in the second, three in the third and three in the seventh before adding another run in the ninth.

Shohei Ohtani smashed his 44th home run of the season, tying him with the Phillies’ Kyle Schwarber for the NL lead, while Alex Call -- whom the Dodgers acquired from the Nationals prior to the Trade Deadline -- had a career-high-tying four hits that included his first Dodgers homer and a double.

Will Smith had three hits, while Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, Teoscar Hernández and Miguel Rojas each had two. Each member of the starting lineup had at least one hit.

On the mound, right-hander Emmet Sheehan started and went six innings, giving up four runs on six hits while walking two and striking out seven.

“I just felt, just watching our guys compete and play, perform the way they did -- from the pitching, the defense, the baserunning, the at-bat quality,” Roberts said, “there was some slug in there, there were some base hits, there was some two-strike fighting, taking walks, building innings and we were able to tack on and stay away from some leverage guys [in the bullpen]. I thought Emmet pitched a great game.”

The Dodgers have been hit hard with injuries, with their bullpen and infield depth taking the brunt of it. But with the sweep of San Diego and several key players nearing a return from the injured list, it seemed the time was now for Los Angeles to begin surging to the finish line.

Then came Monday’s headscratcher, followed by Tuesday’s reversal from the Twilight Zone.

An awakening was what Roberts wanted to see. And that’s what he got -- though not necessarily because it was something his players were consciously seeking. As you might imagine, it just happened with a group as talented as this one.

“I don't think as a player group in here that we were thinking about resetting or anything,” Freeman said. “We know how good we've been playing baseball the last few days. One day isn't gonna change it for us, and that's how we came in today.”

Of course, it helps when you get a huge performance from one of your newest players.

“I did get a few tips from the hitting coaches that I've put into practice really in the last two days, just to help put me in a better position,” said Call, who added that some friends flew in from Wisconsin and procured his first home run ball with the Dodgers.

“ … I could feel a difference from kind of what I had been doing to what I was doing tonight. Hopefully, we can just keep riding that."

Call wasn’t the only player with a milestone home run on this night. And while it came against the Dodgers, rather than for them, it was a special moment for the Dodgers family nonetheless when Rockies rookie Kyle Karros -- son of former Dodgers first baseman Eric Karros -- launched his first Major League homer in the sixth inning with his father in attendance.

“I was excited,” Eric said. “I stood up and I’m screaming and I’m like, ‘Yeah!’ -- just as a father, right? It’s just good to see him have some success, get that off his back.”

Roberts could say the same for the Dodgers.

“Freddie is swinging a hot bat. Will got on track tonight. I thought Teo really got us going and looked good today.

“So just across everyone -- really, really happy with it.”