BALTIMORE — The day began with a few Shohei Ohtani residence runs. It continued with a robust 5 ⅔ inning begin from Clayton Kershaw. And it ended with the Dodgers in a celebratory postgame line, buying and selling victorious high-fives close to the mound.
After 5 consecutive losses, a number of weeks of mounting frustration, and probably the most painful collapse possible the evening earlier than, the Dodgers took a vital first step towards righting their sinking ship on Sunday.
They beat the Baltimore Orioles 5-2, lastly discovering a solution to maintain on to a late-game lead.
They ended an in any other case disastrous highway journey on a sorely wanted excessive word, avoiding what would have been a second-consecutive sequence sweep to a last-place opponent.
“It’s not a surprise how we responded,” supervisor Dave Roberts stated. “There was no panic. There was just preparation. I like the way that our guys weren’t downtrodden. We were up, looking forward to playing a ball game, to win a game. And that’s a tell that we have confidence still in the room. It speaks to the character.”
Certainly, Sunday was the form of day the Dodgers (79-64) have been desperately looking for amid their latest struggles, which reached a brand new low when their no-hitter turned walk-off nightmare on Saturday trimmed their division lead right down to only one sport.
That sport, through which Yoshinobu Yamamoto had a no-hitter damaged up with two outs within the ninth earlier than the Orioles (66-77) rallied for a shocking walk-off win, was the form of loss that threatened to throw the Dodgers into an all-out nose-dive; an unthinkable defeat that, on high of their beforehand mounting frustrations, turned Sunday into yet one more gut-check for the long-slumping membership (which entered Sunday 10 video games underneath .500 since July 4).
“It was a tough loss yesterday,” shortstop Mookie Betts stated. “Especially what Yoshi did, everybody was so excited and happy for him. And to lose, that was tough. So it was pretty down.”
Sunday morning, nonetheless, Betts stated the temper within the clubhouse had rebounded.
Shohei Ohtani, proper, celebrates with Freddie Freeman after hitting a house run within the first inning Sunday towards Baltimore.
(Terrance Williams / Related Press)
“There’s a lot of vets in here and a lot of guys that know how to handle bad situations,” he stated. “So this morning everything was great. The vibes were high.”
After which, two pitches into the sport, Ohtani raised them even larger, belting his twelfth leadoff residence run of the season off fellow Japanese native Tomoyuki Sugano to tie Betts’ single-season franchise report.
“You could see the life in the dugout,” Roberts stated.
“Shohei jump-starting, it lets us know we’re fine,” Betts added.
On Ohtani’s subsequent journey to the plate, the two-way star went deep once more, blasting his forty eighth residence run of the 12 months on a 2-and-0 fastball Sugano left over the plate. Then, within the subsequent at-bat, Betts left the yard himself with a drive to left.
Identical to that, the Dodgers had a 3-0 lead — and later it prolonged to 4-0 on a fortunate break, when Miguel Rojas scored from third on an errant pickoff throw from Baltimore catcher Alex Jackson within the fourth.
“We haven’t gotten a break like that in a while,” Roberts quipped. “Miggy is playing his tail off. So for us to get a break like that, that was something that was very welcome and very needed.”
Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw delivers within the third inning towards the Orioles on Sunday.
(Terrance Williams / Related Press)
So too have been the closing innings of the sport, through which the Dodgers lastly obtained throughout the end line behind a stout (if not totally stress-free) efficiency from the pitching workers.
As he has completed repeatedly this 12 months, Kershaw served as a stopper to a different Dodgers slide, setting a brand new season excessive with eight strikeouts whereas giving up simply two hits via his first 5 innings.
“Obviously a tough one last night, but everybody came in here with a good mindset. Everybody came in here ready to win a game today,” Kershaw stated. “That’s the great thing about baseball, and the worst thing about baseball — that you play every day. It’s a new opportunity every day. And sometimes it’s hard. But that’s why not everybody plays it. You’ve got to put on your big boy pants and go play.”
Kershaw obtained knocked out of the sport within the sixth, following a Gunnar Henderson single and RBI double from Emmanuel Rivera with two outs. Rookie right-hander Edgardo Henriquez flirted with catastrophe after that, giving up one other RBI double to Jackson and a loud fly ball to Dylan Carlson that died on the warning observe.
However from there, the Dodgers settled again down.
One other rookie, left-hander Justin Wrobleski, supplied two crucial innings of scoreless reduction, placing out the ultimate 5 batters he confronted after placing two aboard within the seventh.
“I felt the team needed a jolt or something,” Wrobleski stated. “Thankfully, I was able to go out there and feel really good and do what I wanted to.”
The Dodgers tacked on an insurance coverage run within the ninth, when Betts hit an RBI single off the wall (he was held to only the one base after not hustling out of the field) following a leadoff single from catcher Ben Rortvedt and a stroll from Ohtani (his third of the day, reaching base in all 5 journeys to the plate).
“Certainly, when you get Shohei and Mookie doing what they’re doing, that’s also helpful too,” Roberts stated.
And after being walked off by the Orioles every of the primary two nights at Camden Yards this weekend, the Dodgers prevented any additional fireworks within the ninth, with rookie left-hander Jack Dreyer approaching for his third save of the season.
“It’s good for other guys, or certain guys, to get opportunities and see how they respond,” Roberts stated, after staying away from extra veteran, however lately struggling, relievers like Blake Treinen, Kirby Yates and Tanner Scott.
Granted, one win will put solely the slightest dent within the harm the previous week has already completed.
As an alternative of extending their Nationwide League West lead and making a run for a top-two seed within the NL, the Dodgers let the San Diego Padres (who’ve additionally been slumping) grasp round within the division and the Philadelphia Phillies (who presently maintain the No. 2 seed, which comes with a first-round bye within the playoffs) draw back within the standings.
As an alternative of capitalizing upon a weak spot within the schedule, they are going to return residence with a 1-5 report towards two last-place groups, having once more reverted again to their $400 million roster’s most irritating type.
Nonetheless, given the way in which Saturday ended, the season was beginning to really feel dangerously near the brink. Sunday’s win, for no less than sooner or later, helped calm the waters. Now, they’ve to determine a solution to rise as a substitute of sink.
“That’s really all you can do: Keep showing up, keep going on the field, keep playing,” Kershaw stated. “We’re too good for it not to turn around.”
Muncy set to return; Smith, Glasnow progressing
When the Dodgers return residence Monday to face one other last-place workforce within the Colorado Rockies, they’ll do with a key reinforcement ready. Roberts stated third baseman Max Muncy, who has missed nearly a month with an indirect harm, is anticipated to be activated for Monday’s sequence opener.
“I think that’s going to be helpful,” Roberts stated.
Catcher Will Smith, who has missed the previous 4 video games with a bone bruise on his hand, can also be getting nearer to returning to the lineup, and was accessible off the bench Sunday. Beginning pitcher Tyler Glasnow, in the meantime, is anticipated to make a begin towards the Rockies, as properly, after medical doctors cleared him following a bout of again tightness that compelled him to be scratched on Friday.
“We dodged a bullet,” Roberts stated, “so we feel good about that.”
