It’s nine up, nine down with Dodgers left-hander Julio Urías on the mound

PHOENIX —  The Dodgers defeated the Chicago White Sox, 8-0, in seven innings Monday at Camelback Ranch.

ON THE MOUND: The second spring start for Julio Urías looked much like his relief outing against the Atlanta Braves in the winner-take-all Game 7 of the National League Championship Series last October: The left-hander retired all nine batters he faced, one by strikeout. After David Price retired the side in order in the fourth, left-hander Enny Romero gave up a double in a scoreless fifth, top pitching prospect Bobby Miller walked one in a scoreless sixth, and left-hander James Pazos yielded two hits in a scoreless seventh.

AT THE PLATE: The Dodgers scored three runs in each of the first two innings. In the first, Corey Seager, Justin Turner and AJ Pollock strung three singles together before Matt Beaty dunked an opposite-field two-run single into shallow left field. After DJ Peters and Mookie Betts walked to open the second, Seager homered to center field — his first of the spring — for a 6-0 lead. Sheldon Neuse and Jacob Amaya added RBI singles in the sixth to make it 8-0.

Dodgers

Dodgers’ Dave Roberts speaks out on surge of hate crimes against Asian Americans

Manager Dave Roberts, whose mother is Japanese, wrote a letter to his Dodgers colleagues condemning the recent wave of violence against Asian Americans.

March 8, 2021

EXTRA BASES: Betts made a nice running catch of Andrew Vaughn’s second-inning drive into the right-field corner, snagging the ball just in front of the wall in foul territory to end the inning. … Seager, the most valuable player of the NLCS and World Series last October, reiterated Monday that his impending free agency would not distract him from the task at hand — repeating as champions. “It’s not really a thought process, to be honest with you,” the star shortstop said. “We’ve talked about it for years now. It’s about showing up that day, passing the baton and just being a good team that night, not worrying about what’s ahead.”

UP NEXT: Right-hander Jimmy Nelson will make his second spring start Tuesday against Cincinnati Reds right-hander Sonny Gray at Goodyear Ballpark at 5 p.m. PST. TV: SportsNet LA. Radio: AM 570