Cody Bellinger returns to pre-injury form with grand slam in first inning vs. Cardinals (Video)

Los Angeles Dodgers center fielder Cody Bellinger hit a first-inning grand slam against the Cardinals to announce his true return to pre-injury form.

Cody Bellinger is back.

Sure, he’s been “back” for four games after a long injury absence. Now he’s actually back.

On Wednesday, Bellinger blasted a grand slam to put the Dodgers up 11-1 against the Cardinals in the first inning.

https://twitter.com/sportingnews/status/1400269849566138370?s=20

That’s just his third hit since returning to the LA lineup on May 29. It was also his second of the inning as the Dodgers opened the game with a wave of runs.

Cody Bellinger racked up the RBIs in one inning against the Cardinals

Walker Buehler gave up a home run to Paul Goldschmidt in the top of the first, but Los Angeles had an immediate and intense response. Carlos Martinez had a disastrous start by letting eight Dodgers take a base before managing his first out. Justin Turner, Bellinger, Gavin Lux and Zach McKinstry all had RBI singles in that stretch.

And it only got worse for the Cardinals.

Mookie Betts’ RBI single made it 7-1 before St. Louis pulled Martinez off the mound. His replacement, Jake Woodford, came in and gave up the grand slam to Bellinger after throwing three straight balls.

Bellinger had six RBI by the end of the inning, four more than he had in his first eight appearances of the season.

The Dodgers can hope this signals Bellinger is starting to feel like his old self. The team lost three of his first four games back as he batted .083/.267/.083 over the last week.

Los Angeles is 32-23, but they trail the Giants and Padres in the NL West standings. They just dropped three of four to San Francisco. While they won the first game against St. Louis, they lost on Tuesday night.