by Megan Garcia
Fans scurried through the turnstiles to get their hands on a collectible item of a generational player. The “MVP” chants rattled Dodger Stadium. A memorable night started in the early morning outside of Chavez Ravine — and Shohei Ohtani rose to the occasion.
The cheers of 53,290 fans provided the soundtrack as the two-way superstar shined on his bobblehead night — the second this season — by scoring three runs in the Dodgers’ 6–4 win against the Orioles on Wednesday.
“I was surprised as well when I came to the ballpark,” Ohtani said. “I wasn’t really aware of the situation. I just thought it was some other special event.”
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Fans lined the streets of Los Angeles for Ohtani’s bobblehead giveaway — this time featuring his beloved dog, Decoy. The pair took part in the ceremonial first pitch with Decoy impressively “throwing” a fastball to Ohtani.
“This was a really special night,” Ohtani said. “I had to buy some special snack for the trick.”
Ohtani started the scoring with his fourth lead-off homer this season to give the Dodgers an early one-run lead. It was his 10th homer in August, making him the eighth player since 1901 to record 10 homers and 10 stolen bases in a single month.
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The Orioles tagged Walker Buehler for three runs in the second inning — only one earned — jumping ahead to a 3–1 lead.
The Dodgers flipped the script in the third. Mookie Betts put the Dodgers within one run when he singled in Kiké Hernández. Teoscar Hernández stepped up to the plate and clubbed his 28th homer of the season. It traveled 431 feet at 113.3 MPH to center field to give the Dodgers a 5–3 lead.
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Baltimore threatened in the fifth, however, when Ryan O’Hearn’s RBI-two-out double cut the Dodgers’ lead to one run. Lefty reliever Anthony Banda thwarted any further comeback by inducing an infield groundout.
Ohtani inched closer to the 45/45 club with two stolen bases on the night. He swiped second and third base in the fifth inning, positioning him to score on a defensive miscue from the Orioles on a grounder from Gavin Lux. The Dodgers extended their lead to 6–4 and didn’t let up after that.
Buehler Feels Like His Old Self
When he handed the ball to manager Dave Roberts, the crowd above the Dodgers’ dugout gave Buehler a standing ovation. His night ended after 4 2/3 innings, and he was responsible for the runners in scoring position.
This is the closest he’s felt since 2021, when he was an All-Star and finished fourth in Cy Young voting.
“It’s timing, it’s delivery, it’s mindset, it’s all of the stuff,” Buehler said. “When I go to sleep tonight, I feel like I’m kind of like myself again.”
Wednesday marked his longest outing in his three starts since returning from the injured list on Aug. 14. Buehler gave up four runs (two earned) on five hits, one walk and four strikeouts. He registered 59 strikes among the 90 pitches he threw.
“This is the first night I’ve seen the delivery, the tempo synced up,” Roberts said. “I’m looking forward to him building on this if he keeps in that delivery. The way he was spinning the baseball, the curveball was as good as I’ve seen it in a couple of years, the fastball, the cutter — he was ripping it tonight.”
Where They Stand
The Dodgers keep their lead in the National League West to three games as the Diamondbacks beat the New York Mets. The Dodgers will send Bobby Miller (1–3, 7.49 ERA) to the mound against Baltimore’s lefty Cade Povich (1–6, 6.10 ERA) in the series finale.
Shohei Ohtani rises to the occasion on a special night with Decoy was originally published in Dodger Insider on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.