LOS ANGELES — The pain, the fear, the recovery and the return all led to one of Dustin May’s finest hours on Thursday night.
May retired the first 16 batters he faced and led the charge toward a 6-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox that finished off a three-game sweep for the Dodgers’ eighth victory in their past nine games.
A year ago, May was nearly all the way back from Tommy John surgery when he went through a life-threatening emergency because of an esophageal tear. The culprit was a bite of salad, followed by a gulp of water.
May went through surgery with doctors saying the injury could have been deadly. May admits that his first instinct was to sleep off the pain before his wife insisted on a trip to the hospital.
Saying in spring training that he views life with a greater appreciation now, May was a ray of light on the mound, allowing two runs in seven-plus innings. He tied a season high with nine strikeouts and pitched into the eighth inning for the first time in his career.
“Confidence is high,” May said. “I’ve been able to go out and I haven’t missed a start, knock on wood. I’ve been able to go out and give them a chance to win for a lot of my outings which is a good thing. Just going to try and build off this one.”
May was in complete control until the eighth after a lackluster June when he went 1-1 with a 5.67 ERA in five starts. The only runs he allowed Thursday came when Josh Rojas led off the eighth with a single and Baldwin hit a home run to right-center.
“I think right now, being able to give us a length, go deep in games, he’s probably been our most dependable guy in that sense,” Manager Dave Roberts said. “And taking some workload off the (bullpen), kind of stabilizing the rotation, he’s been fantastic. And he just looks comfortable out there, managing his emotions and I feel good every time he takes a mound.”
His emotions were not all hidden, with May letting out a scream as he departed following Baldwin’s home run.
“I didn’t execute,” May said. “It was a (expletive) pitch, (expletive) location. Felt like I could have got out of it, but he battled and I lost.”
Freddie Freeman and Michael Conforto supplied most of the run support. Freeman had an RBI double in the first inning and a two-run double in the third. Conforto added a two-run homer in the third.
Mookie Betts added his first home run in 21 games when he went deep in the seventh.
After he has been critical of his swing for most of the season, Freeman now has multiple hits in three of his last four games.
“Obviously, it’s been trending a lot better,” he said. “Even that first game in Kansas City, I didn’t get any hits, but I felt a little bit better in that game. Obviously, got a few hits in Kansas City that last one I played. So last few games swing is definitely trending in the right direction.”
The Dodgers jumped in front 1-0 in the first inning against White Sox starter Aaron Civale when Shohei Ohtan led off with a walk and scored from first base on a Freeman double into the right-field corner.
Another leadoff walk to Ohtani sparked a four-run third. Betts followed Ohtani by reaching base on a fielder’s choice and an error by Chicago shortstop Chase Meidroth. Freeman then poked a double into the left-field corner to score both runners.
“The curveball that he hit to the left side, I don’t know how many hitters are able to do that,” Civale said. “Just up in the zone and he handled that well. He played it situationally. … He’s a professional hitter and has been doing this for a really long time and is going to continue to do that.”
After Teoscar Hernandez and Andy Pages both were retired, Conforto hit a home run over the short wall in right field, his seventh of the season and third in his past six games.
The Dodgers failed to score in the fifth, in an inning that was eventful anyway. Freeman had a home run taken away by White Sox right fielder Mike Tauchman, who reached over the short wall in right to make the catch.
Hernandez followed with a single to right field for his 1,000th career hit.
It could have been a double milestone night on Wednesday, with Clayton Kershaw recording his 3,000th career strikeout, but Hernandez was given the night off.
Betts’ home run came with one out in the seventh inning for a 6-0 lead. It was his 10th of the season and first since June 8.
“I think he’ll sleep well tonight and we’ve got a big series against the Astros, which will be fun,” Roberts said. “And he’s got a little bit of momentum.”