After suffering a tough loss to the San Diego Padres in a nail-biter that ended on a triple play on Tuesday evening, the Los Angeles Dodgers bounced back in a huge way.
“We play 162 games, and there are a lot of heartbreaking games,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said before the game. “And the thing about baseball players, you have to come back and win the next day.”
Shohei Ohtani continued his MVP-caliber season by going 2-for-3 with a double, two RBIs, and a career-best 56th stolen base. Hitting a gigantic RBI single in the sixth inning lifted the Dodgers to a 4-3 win over the Padres on Wednesday at Dodger Stadium.
With the victory, Los Angeles (94-64) took a divisional three game lead in the NL West, moving one game closer to capturing their 11th division title in the last 12 years. San Diego (91-67) meanwhile clinched a postseason berth with the 4-2 win over the Dodgers on Tuesday.
Related Stories
Sparks Guard Layshia Clarendon Announces Retirement
King/Drew Beats Marquez 27-21 in Overtime Thriller
“There’s some sense of elevation when it comes to playing these meaningful games,” Ohtani said through a translator. “I’m really focused on quality at-bats.”
Ohtani tied Ichiro Suzuki for most stolen bases in a season by a Japanese-born player.
“He’s somebody I admire and look up to,” Ohtani said on Ichiro. “I will continue to steal when the occasion is necessary.”
Padres starter Dylan Cease gave up three runs and five hits in five innings of play, striking out four and walking three. Dodgers starter Jack Flaherty struck out five and walked three in five innings.
Teoscar Hernández started the first inning with a two-out single to center, bringing home Ohtani after he drew a walk before advancing to second on a wild pitch.
Xander Bogaerts had an RBI single to left in the second and Jake Cronenworth added an RBI groundout to second base to give the Padres a 2-1 advantage.
Gavin Lux recorded an RBI single in the fourth to tie the game at 2-2 and Ohtani had an RBI double to right to bring home Lux while taking a brief 3-2 lead.
Fernando Tatis Jr. blasted a 448-foot homer to tie the game at 3-3 with two outs in the fifth, but that went on to be San Diego’s final hit of the game.
“We get a lead and we know that we got a lot of dogs out there that can shut it down when we need them to,” said Lux.
Ohtani’s go-ahead single to center came on a two-strike, two-out pitch off Adrián Morejón in the sixth, as he brought Will Smith to home plate, giving the Dodgers the 4-3 win after stellar defense from there.
“It fires us up,” Roberts said about the performance of Ohtani. “When your best player is playing with emotion, everyone follows.”
Dodgers reliever Blake Treinen retired the order with a 1-2-3 inning in the eighth as the Dodgers bullpen closed out the game.
“Tonight was a clinic,” Roberts said of Treinen. “He’s using his entire toolbox.”
“I know guys here, obviously, we had a sour taste in our mouth,” said Treinen following the Tuesday loss. “So, to come back today and win this game is great.”
With two outs in the ninth, Michael Kopech struck out Donovan Solano on a 101-mph fastball to capture his 15th save on the year for Los Angeles.
“I expect our guys to be emotionally exhausted [and] spent every game from now going forward,” Roberts said. “If they’re not, they’re not leaving enough out there.”
