LOS ANGELES (Interstat) — Dalton Rushing hit a three-run home run in the fourth inning, and Roki Sasaki pitched into the sixth as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Seattle Mariners 6-2 on Thursday night at Dodger Stadium.

The Dodgers took two of three in the series and improved to 69-40. Seattle fell to 53-57.

Sasaki (5-5) allowed two earned runs on five hits and struck out seven over 5 1/3 innings. He gave up a first-inning walk but settled in before Seattle’s two-run sixth. The Dodgers’ bullpen protected the lead, with Jack Dreyer contributing 1 1/3 scoreless innings and Edwin Díaz finishing the ninth with two strikeouts.

Los Angeles grabbed an early lead in the first inning. Tommy Edman drew a one-out walk, and Andy Pages followed with a single to right field to put runners at the corners. After Freddie Freeman and Max Muncy struck out, Mookie Betts doubled on a sharp line drive to left, scoring Edman and Pages for a 2-0 lead. Betts finished 2 for 4 with two RBIs.

The Dodgers extended the lead in the fourth. Kyle Tucker walked with one out, and Teoscar Hernández singled to put two runners aboard. Rushing then drove a fly ball over the right-field fence for his 12th home run, scoring Tucker and Hernández and making it 5-0. Rushing went 1 for 4 with three RBIs.

Seattle broke through in the sixth. Cole Young tripled on a line drive to center field, and Randy Arozarena followed with a double to left to bring him home. Arozarena scored later in the inning when Cal Raleigh drew a bases-loaded walk. Josh Naylor had singled to load the bases, and Raleigh’s walk pulled the Mariners to 5-2. Sasaki struck out Rob Refsnyder, and Weston Wilson grounded out to end the inning with the bases loaded.

The Dodgers answered immediately. In the bottom of the sixth, Hernández led off with a home run to center field, his ninth of the season, extending the lead to 6-2. Hernández finished 2 for 3 with a home run and an RBI.

Seattle’s Bryan Woo took the loss and fell to 7-8. Woo allowed five earned runs on five hits over five innings while striking out eight. Mariners relievers Alex Hoppe and Cole Wilcox combined for three innings of relief, with Hoppe allowing one earned run in two innings and Wilcox allowing two hits over a scoreless inning.

Arozarena led Seattle’s offense, going 3 for 4 with a double, an RBI and a run scored. The Mariners managed eight hits as a team, matching the Dodgers’ eight-hit total. Young also tripled in the sixth and scored Seattle’s first run, while Naylor had two singles.

The Dodgers received production up and down the lineup. Betts supplied the early two-run double, Hernández homered and singled, and Rushing supplied the game’s biggest swing. Los Angeles also got a hit from Pages, who singled in the first and third innings, and from Freddie Freeman, who singled in the eighth. Mookie Betts added a single in the eighth as well.

Sasaki’s outing marked another strong start in his recent stretch. In his previous appearance, he had earned a win at New York against the Mets, throwing seven innings and allowing one earned run on three hits with nine strikeouts. On Thursday, he was less efficient but effective enough to keep Seattle off the board until the sixth. He departed after 5 1/3 innings with the Dodgers ahead by three runs. Dreyer entered and recorded the final two outs of the sixth, then worked a clean seventh. Díaz handled the ninth after the Mariners put a runner aboard, but he struck out two and stranded the runner.

The Mariners had chances after their sixth-inning burst. They loaded the bases again in the seventh? Let’s check: Top 7: Emerson groundout, Young groundout, Arozarena single, Canzone walk, Julio groundout. So they had two on? Actually Arozarena single, Canzone walk, then Julio groundout. Not bases loaded. Top 8: Naylor single, Raleigh force out, Refsnyder strikeout, Wilson walk, Emerson flyout. So two on with two outs? After Refsnyder K, Wilson walk, then Emerson flyout. They didn’t score. In ninth: Young flyout, Arozarena single, Canzone strikeout, Julio called strikeouts. So left runner.

The Dodgers’ defense also contributed, with shortstop Betts and third baseman Muncy involved in several ground-ball outs. Los Angeles turned a force out in the eighth when Muncy fielded a grounder and threw to second to erase Naylor.

The attendance was announced at 52,378. The game lasted 2 hours 49 minutes.

Seattle will return home to open a series against Minnesota on Friday. Los Angeles will host Boston on Friday.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Los Angeles Dodgers 6, Seattle Mariners 4. Interstat’s ELO system had projected the Dodgers with a 66.00 percent probability to win. Los Angeles was installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of -1.5. The total score of 8 went over the over/under line of 8.5.