LOS ANGELES (Interstat) — A six-run fourth inning powered the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 12-4 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Saturday night at Dodger Stadium, salvaging a split of the first two games of the series in front of 53,397 fans.

The game lasted 3 hours, 23 minutes.

The Dodgers improved to 18-9, while the Cubs dropped to 17-10.

Right-hander Roki Sasaki earned his first win of the season, allowing four runs on seven hits over five innings, striking out five and walking three. Sasaki entered the game with an 0-2 record. Cubs right-hander Colin Rea took the loss, falling to 3-1, after yielding six runs on seven hits in 3 1/3 innings.

The Cubs struck first in the top of the second inning when Seiya Suzuki crushed his fourth home run of the season, a solo shot to left-center field off Sasaki. Chicago added another run in the third after Miguel Amaya was hit by a pitch, moved to third on a flyout and scored on Michael Busch’s sharp line-drive single to right field.

The Dodgers answered in the bottom of the third. Shohei Ohtani drew a walk and advanced to second on a groundout. Max Muncy followed with his ninth home run of the season, a two-run blast to right-center that tied the game 2-2.

Chicago regained the lead in the top of the fourth when Moisés Ballesteros launched his fourth homer of the year to right-center, making it 3-2.

The pivotal moment came in the bottom of the fourth. After Andy Pages grounded out, Hyeseong Kim singled to center. Alex Freeland doubled to left, scoring Kim to tie the game 3-3. Ohtani walked, and Freddie Freeman singled sharply to left, plating Freeland and giving the Dodgers a 4-3 lead. Muncy walked to load the bases, but Kyle Tucker popped out in foul territory.

Teoscar Hernández then delivered the decisive blow, a sharp two-run single to center that scored Ohtani and Freeman, extending the lead to 6-3. Dalton Rushing followed with an RBI single to left, scoring Santiago Espinal, who had entered as a pinch runner. Andy Pages capped the six-run outburst with a ground-ball single to center that scored Hernández, making it 8-3.

The Cubs responded in the top of the fifth when Amaya hit his second home run of the season, a solo shot to right-center off Sasaki, trimming the deficit to 8-4. But that was the last run Chicago would score.

The Dodgers added four more runs in the bottom of the sixth. Kyle Tucker hit a ground-rule double down the left-field line. Hernández singled to left, putting runners at the corners. Rushing walked to load the bases. Pages then doubled sharply to left, scoring Tucker and Hernández to make it 10-4. Kim grounded out to first, allowing Rushing to score, and Pages moved to third. Freeland struck out, but Ohtani grounded out to first, with Pages scoring on the play for a 12-4 lead.

Key performances included Dodgers left fielder Andy Pages going 2 for 5 with three RBIs. Third baseman Max Muncy finished 1 for 1 with a home run, two RBIs and two walks. Second baseman Alex Freeland went 2 for 4 with a double and an RBI. First baseman Freddie Freeman had two hits. Catcher Dalton Rushing and designated hitter Teoscar Hernández each contributed two hits.

For Chicago, right fielder Seiya Suzuki went 3 for 4 with a home run and an RBI. Catcher Miguel Amaya was 1 for 3 with a home run and an RBI. Second baseman Nico Hoerner had two hits.

The Cubs’ bullpen was led by right-hander Vince Velasquez, who pitched 2 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing one hit and striking out one. For the Dodgers, relievers Will Klein, Jake Eder and Jack Dreyer combined for three scoreless innings, with Klein striking out two in 1 1/3 frames, Eder striking out one in a perfect seventh and Dreyer fanning two in two-thirds of an inning.

The game featured 23 combined hits — 14 for the Dodgers and nine for the Cubs. The Dodgers hit four doubles and two home runs; the Cubs hit three home runs. Neither team committed an error, though a missed catch error by Dodgers second baseman Alex Freeland in the eighth inning did not result in a run.

The Cubs were coming off a 6-4 win in Friday’s series opener. That victory had extended Chicago’s winning streak to eight games, a run that included sweeps of the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies at home. The Dodgers had lost that opener after winning three of four in Colorado and splitting a pair at San Francisco earlier in the week.

Los Angeles had won 18 of its first 27 games, while Chicago had posted a 17-10 mark. The two teams will conclude the three-game series Sunday afternoon.

Sasaki earned his first win with a solid but not dominant outing. He threw 86 pitches, allowing four earned runs on seven hits. The Cubs’ solo home runs kept them within striking distance until the Dodgers’ offensive eruption in the fourth and sixth innings.

Rea lasted only 3 1/3 innings, surrendering eight hits and six earned runs. He walked three and struck out one.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Chicago Cubs 8, Los Angeles Dodgers 6. Interstat’s ELO system gave the Dodgers a 60.10 percent probability to win. Los Angeles was installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus-1.5. The total score of 16 went under the over/under line of 9.5.