by Cary Osborne
There’s the 6-for-6, 50/50 game. The walk-off grand slam game. The bobblehead game. Wednesday could be called the Most Valuable Player game.
With the Dodgers and Padres in a division title tug-of-war, Ohtani pulled the Dodgers closer to a crown with two gargantuan hits in a tight game.
The left-handed hitting slugger’s two-strike, two-out RBI single against lefty reliever Adrian Morejón in the sixth inning gave the Dodgers the go-ahead run in their 4–3 win on Wednesday at Dodger Stadium.
The Dodgers’ magic number is two — meaning a win on Thursday against the Padres would give them their 11th National League West title in 12 seasons. And it would be Ohtani’s first in his seven-year Major League career.
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“Being able to do this, hopefully to be able to do it in front of the home fans would be something that I am looking forward to,” Ohtani said.
Ohtani gave the Dodgers a 3–2 lead in the fourth inning on a double that punished the fencing on the right field bullpen gate. Gavin Lux also drove in a run in the frame with an RBI single off Padres starter Dylan Cease.
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Ohtani is batting .270 on the season with runners in scoring position. He came into the game batting .259 with RISP — 80th in the Majors. However, Ohtani leads the Majors in win probability added, according to Baseball Reference.
His double in the fourth inning added 14.6% to the Dodgers’ win probability at the time. His sixth-inning game-changer added 18.1%.
“He is handling it exactly the way I would have hoped,” said manager Dave Roberts of Ohtani’s performance in these pressure games. “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 with it when he gets his chance. So just as far as emotions, he’s really channeling them. And the energy’s the right energy. It’s not pressing. It’s urgency. It’s everything that you want in a playoff environment.”
The Dodger designated hitter also stole his 56th base in the game, tying Ichiro Suzuki (2001) for the most steals by a Japanese-born Major Leaguer.
Speaking of valuable, the Dodger bullpen fits into the conversation.
Starter Jack Flaherty battled command issues to get through five innings. He allowed three runs, walked three and threw 100 pitches.
Four Dodger relievers took it from there — from Alex Vesia to Evan Phillips to Blake Treinen to Michael Kopech. The Padres were 0-for-11 against the quartet, which tossed four scoreless innings.
Treinen faced the heart of the Padre order in the top of the eighth inning — Fernando Tatis Jr., Jurickson Profar and Manny Machado.
Treinen earned the first two outs of the frame, then got ahead of Padre superstar Manny Machado. Machado fell behind 0–2 in the count, stepped into the batter’s box, then stepped out as if to slow Treinen’s momentum.
Treinen then threw a sweeper that looped to the bottom of the strike zone and struck Machado out looking.
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The veteran right-handed reliever hasn’t allowed a run in his last 14 outings and has struck out 18 batters in 14 1/3 innings.
“Tonight was a clinic,” Roberts said. “He’s using his entire toolbox as far as pitches and different locations, and he’s very unpredictable. And so when you take that stuff with unpredictability, it’s tough to square up. And he’s executing, and he pitched another big inning for us.”
Kopech earned his sixth save in as many chances as a Dodger. With two outs and one on in the ninth, he threw a 101-mph pitch to first baseman Donovan Solano, then threw his fist in celebration after ending the game.
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“I expect our guys to be emotionally exhausted, spent every game now going forward,” Roberts said. “And if they’re not, they’re not leaving enough out there. It takes a lot of focus and determination and intensity for three hours of a baseball game, and then have to do it again the next night. And if they’re not spent, then we haven’t put enough into each game.”
Rojas Dealing with Injury
Miguel Rojas left the game after the fourth inning with left groin tightness. He said he has been dealing with the injury for weeks and that it hurts most when he’s rounding the bases.
Rojas said he will get an MRI and injection on Thursday and hopes to play at least one game before the end of the regular season.
Roberts said the injury is a concern.
Where They Stand
The Dodgers (94–64) lead the Padres (91–67) by three games in the NL West with a chance to win the crown on Thursday. Walker Buehler goes for the Dodgers in the 7:10 p.m. game. The Dodgers also hold a 1/2 game lead over the Phillies (94–65) for the best record in the Majors.
The Dodgers show fight and emotion, as Ohtani and the bullpen pull LA closer to a title was originally published in Dodger Insider on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.