by Megan Garcia
Landon Knack is making his case to pitch postseason innings.
The rookie pitcher gave the Dodgers a much-needed boost on the starting pitching side, tossing five shutout innings in the Dodgers’ 8–4 win over the Marlins on Wednesday.
“He’s going to get a couple more opportunities,” said manager Dave Roberts. “I just really like he has an arsenal to get different hitters out. He really commands the baseball and I just like the confidence he exudes on the mound. When you look forward, he’s certainly in the mix.”
This is the 10th time in 13 starts that Knack has allowed two runs or fewer in a start. Knack bounced back from his roughest outing of the year on Friday in Atlanta where he allowed five earned runs in two innings.
“It felt really good to get things back on track a little bit,” Knack said. “Just let it rip from the beginning.”
Knack worked around a leadoff single by Marlin Xavier Edwards on Wednesday. Edwards was left stranded at third base after a stolen base and throwing error. Knack retired 11 of the following 13 batters he faced.
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“The (thinking process) tries not to change when you have runners on, it’s really about executing the game plan, especially following what Will Smith is doing back there,” Knack said. “He does really good scouting reports, so following him and trusting him back there has been huge.”
Entering Wednesday, teams were slugging .576 against Knack’s four-seam fastball with nine home runs in 92 at-bats. The Marlins, however, stayed off the board as Knack fired the pitch to record five of his seven strikeouts. His fastball also registered 1.2 MPH faster than his yearly average.
“To be able to have that (velocity) is huge,” Knack said. “The location was a lot better tonight. Overall, the fastball just felt much, much better. Just being able to put it where I want, especially locating it in the bottom of the zone.”
Offense Stays Hot
The Dodgers continued to keep the bases occupied for a fourth consecutive game.
Kiké Hernández led the Dodgers with three RBI for his ninth multi-RBI game of the season. His three-run homer helped power the five-run fourth inning.
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Tommy Edman muscled his sixth home run in eight games when he hit a two-run shot with one out in the fourth.
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Will Smith put the first run on the board for the Dodgers when he homered against Ryan Weathers in the second inning.
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The Marlins scored three runs in the seventh to cut the Dodgers’ lead in half, but Chris Taylor singled in two runs with the bases loaded in the eighth to extend the lead.
50/50 Chase
Shohei Ohtani is embarking on a feat that has never been accomplished in Major League history: 50/50.
Ohtani stole his 49th base in the first inning against Marlins starter Ryan Weathers. He is two home runs and one stolen base away from making history.
The two-way superstar reached the 40/40 club when he stole his 40th base and hit his 40th home run in the same game on Aug. 31. Ohtani has surpassed career-high marks in home runs (44, 2023) and stolen bases (26, 2021) this season.
Where They Stand
Jack Flaherty will take the mound against the Marlins (56–96) on Thursday at 1:40 p.m. in the season series finale. The Dodgers (90–62) maintained their 3 ½ game lead in the National League West after the San Diego Padres (87–66) beat the Houston Astros (82–70).
This is the fourth consecutive season the Dodgers have reached the 90-win mark. Their magic number to clinch the division is seven games.
Landon Knack makes a case for the postseason was originally published in Dodger Insider on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.