The Los Angeles Dodgers relied on their trio of MVP winners to edge out the Kansas City Royals Friday. Reigning NL MVP Shohei Ohtani led off the game with a home run – his league-high 29th bomb of the season. Ohtani later tied the game with a fifth inning RBI triple before scoring the go-ahead run on a base hit by 2018 AL MVP Mookie Betts.

The score remained 5-4 when the Royals threatened in the bottom of the ninth inning. But the Dodgers got out of a jam thanks to a spectacular defensive play by 2020 NL MVP Freddie Freeman.

LA reliever Tanner Scott was facing rookie right fielder Jac Caglianone with the bases loaded and one out. Caglianone swung at the first pitch he saw, slapping a grounder to second baseman Tommy Edman. Edman flipped the ball to Betts, who stepped on second and fired over to first base where Freeman made an incredible pick on the short hop to complete the game-ending double play.

Dodgers' MVPs lead LA to victory

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Freeman has cooled off at the plate this month as he deals with a quad injury. After an incredible May, during which he slashed .410/.462/.638 with 4 home runs and 21 RBI, he’s down to .182/.258/.227 with no homers and 4 RBI in 23 June games.

However, he’s still batting .305 on the season with an .867 OPS. And Freeman is one of the Dodgers’ most important veteran leaders, who always seems to come through in the clutch, evidenced by his MVP-winning World Series performance.

Non-former MVP Max Muncy continued his offensive onslaught in the series opener against the Royals. Muncy hit his fourth home run in four games Friday. The Dodgers third baseman has 15 RBI during his four-game power binge.

With the victory over Kansas City, the Dodgers extended their winning streak to five straight games. LA has gone 11-2 since the San Francisco Giants moved into a first-place tie in the NL West on June 13. The Dodgers are now 21 games over .500 and have a 6.5 game lead in the division.