Shohei Ohtani propels Dodgers past Padres and a step closer to NL West title

Ohtani goes 2 for 3 and twice drives in go-ahead runs in a 4-3 win. The Dodgers can clinch the NL West division title with a win in the series finale on Thursday night.

Tomas K - Moderator Tomas K - Moderator
Sep 26, 2024 - 10:00
Shohei Ohtani propels Dodgers past Padres and a step closer to NL West title
  • Dodgers relief pitcher Michael Kopech celebrates after striking out the...

    Dodgers relief pitcher Michael Kopech celebrates after striking out the San Diego Padres’ Donovan Solano for the final out in their 4-3 victory on Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

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Dodgers relief pitcher Michael Kopech celebrates after striking out the San Diego Padres’ Donovan Solano for the final out in their 4-3 victory on Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

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LOS ANGELES — If this is Shohei Ohtani in playoff mode, October could be very entertaining.

Ohtani watched Tuesday night’s shocking game-ending triple play from the on-deck circle, robbed of a chance to bat with the game on the line. He got back at the San Diego Padres a day later, going 2 for 3 and twice driving in a go-ahead run for the Dodgers as they rebounded to beat the Padres, 4-3, on Wednesday night.

The win rebuilt the Dodgers’ National League West lead to three games with four games left and cut their magic number to clinch the division to two. A win over the Padres on Thursday night would clinch the Dodgers’ 11th division title in 12 years.

“You want to think about it,” Roberts said. “There’s a lot at stake. Our guys have been going hard since the first of April – shoot, since Korea (in March) – so we have a chance to check a box off and win the division and it’s right in front of us tomorrow. We’ll be ready.”

Ohtani wasn’t part of those other division title teams, but he is doing his best to single-handedly carry the Dodgers over the finish line of this division race. In his past six games, Ohtani is a walking video game – 17 for 24 (.708) with four doubles, five home runs, 15 RBIs, 11 runs scored and seven stolen bases (he pushed his season total to 56).

“He’s the best player in baseball. You never think he’s gonna get out,” Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy said. “Every time he gets in the box, you’re just waiting for something incredible to happen, and he really doesn’t disappoint too often.”

Remember when Ohtani started the season 1 for 19 with runners in scoring position, pressing to make a good first impression with his new team? He has batted .303 (37 for 122) in those situations since that start, including 2 for 2 on Wednesday.

“Special. Unbelievable,” Dodgers starting pitcher Jack Flaherty said. “You just want to get him up there with some guys on base, and you feel like you’re in a good spot.”

Ohtani acknowledged he has been energized by playing meaningful games in September for the first time in his career with his first postseason experience on the horizon.

“I do agree,” he said through his interpreter. “The fans and even within the team I do feel like there is some sense of elevation when it comes to playing these meaningful games.

“I’m really focused on quality at-bats and being able to do that every single at-bat.”

He led off the bottom of the first inning with a walk, moved up on a wild pitch and scored on Teoscar Hernandez’s two-out RBI single. A walk extended the inning and the Dodgers forced Padres starter Dylan Cease to throw 28 pitches in a first inning that ended with Fernando Tatis Jr.’s back to the right field wall as he hauled in Will Smith’s long fly ball.

Flaherty gave the lead right back in the top of the second by walking Manny Machado, giving up a double to Jackson Merrill and an RBI single to Xander Bogaerts. A ground out brought in a second run before Flaherty struck out Donovan Solano and Elias Diaz.

It  was the Dodgers’ turn in the fourth inning. With two outs, Tommy Edman doubled to right-center field and scored on Gavin Lux’s RBI single.

Miguel Rojas drew a walk, extending the inning for Ohtani, who ripped a line drive off the bullpen gate in right field – the 116.8 mph missile surprisingly didn’t burn a hole through it. The double scored Lux with the go-ahead run, but Rojas rounded third and held up, feinting toward home when the ball got away from the cutoff man then scrambling back to third base.

The effort left Rojas in pain from a left adductor muscle injury he has been nursing for “three weeks,” he said after leaving the game. Rojas said he expects to get an injection to treat the issue in the hopes that it will allow him to play at closer to full strength in the postseason.

“It’s that point of the year that you push through things,” Rojas said. “But hopefully with the opportunity to secure the division, I think it’s time for me to do something, and probably gonna have to take a couple days, probably getting an injection to try to calm it down and be ready for what is really important, which is playing in the playoffs.”

The Dodgers’ lead disappeared in the fifth inning when Tatis got a high fastball from Flaherty and drove it deep into the left field pavilion for a solo home run.

Flaherty struggled with his command and was done after throwing 100 pitches (only 59 strikes) to get through five innings.

“I feel like I had to maybe stop trying so hard in the middle innings there,” Flaherty said. “I wasn’t trying to be perfect early on, but the first inning went well. And then the second inning, just kind of lost a little bit of command.

“The frustrating part is us getting the lead and not going out and putting up a shutdown inning.”

The game was still tied when Padres reliever Jeremiah Estrada walked Smith and Edman to start the sixth. Lux took a called third strike and Jackson Merrill made a diving catch in right-center to rob Andy Pages of an extra-base hit.

That brought up Ohtani, who fell behind lefty reliever Adrian Morejon 0-and-2 before taking two balls and then lashing a 108.6 mph single through the middle of the infield to drive in Smith with the go-ahead run.

“He has raised his level of play,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of Ohtani. “The epitome of it is that Morejon at-bat. He gets behind 0-2, takes a couple breaking balls and hits the ball hard up the middle to drive in a run. You see the emotion that you never see and you’ve seen that over the last week. He’s sniffing the postseason and understanding how important these games are.”

Just as he did following his game-tying home run in the ninth inning on Sunday, Ohtani erupted as he ran to first base, gesturing toward the Dodgers’ dugout.

“He’s handling it exactly the way I would’ve hoped,” Roberts said. “This is a playoff environment. You can see they’re trying to crowd him and then spin him away and he’s just being patient waiting for his pitch and he’s doing something when he gets his chance.

“As far as emotions, he’s really channeling them and the energy is the right energy. He’s not pressing. It’s urgency. It’s everything you want in a playoff environment.”

The Dodgers’ bullpen took the one-run lead and gingerly passed it from Alex Vesia to Evan Phillips to Blake Treinen and Michael Kopech. A two-out walk by Kopech in the ninth put the tying run in scoring position but he struck out Solano with a 101 mph fastball.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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