by Cary Osborne
Two runs — that’s it.
One helped by a Giants error, both driven in by the bottom of the Dodgers’ lineup.
That’s all they needed.
The seven-game losing streak — the franchise’s longest since 2017 — is over after the Dodgers beat the Giants 2–1 in San Francisco on Saturday.
“We’ll all sleep better tonight,” said manager Dave Roberts.
It was an RBI groundout by Tommy Edman in the second inning and an RBI single by Hyeseong Kim in the sixth inning that did the job for an offense that has been struggling since Independence Day.
It was the piggyback of Shohei Ohtani and Emmet Sheehan on the mound that lifted a pitching staff that has been inconsistent since the holiday.
Ohtani continues to be impressive in his short spurts — Saturday now being the longest. The right-hander struck out the side in the first inning, which piggybacks his second and final inning on July 5 against Houston, when he struck out the side.
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He struck out four over three scoreless innings on Saturday.
“Aside from the stuff, I’m more happy with the command of my pitches and being able to attack the zone,” was how Ohtani rated his outing.
Opponents are 5-for-30 (.167) with five singles for a measly .167 slugging percentage against Ohtani in five starts.
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Sheehan was excellent for the third time in three Major League games this season and third time in three career games against the Giants. The right-hander didn’t allow a hit through 4 1/3 innings, running his total to 15 no-hit innings against the Giants to begin his career.
That run ended with a single by catcher Patrick Bailey in the eighth inning. Bailey came around to score to cut the Dodger lead to 2–1 on a Rafael Devers sacrifice fly.
Alex Vesia got the Dodgers out of the inning with a ground out from Matt Chapman with runners on the corners.
Sheehan allowed two hits and a run over 4 1/3 innings on Saturday.
He has allowed three earned runs — one in each game — in 13 1/3 innings (2.03 ERA) this season.
“He’s a tough kid, tough competitor,” Roberts said. “The efficiency today, staying in the strike zone. I wish I would have had that (Mike Yastrzemski) four-pitch walk back (in the eighth inning) to see if he can get through that inning. But outside of that, there really wasn’t a blemish.”
Tanner Scott earned the save by retiring the side in order in the bottom of the ninth inning.
The obituary can now be written on the seven-game losing skid.
The Dodgers were outscored 52–17 from July 4-July 11. They led after nine innings total during the stretch. The Dodgers batted .207 with a .602 OPS, six home runs and 67 strikeouts. Dodger pitchers had a 7.01 ERA and allowed 14 home runs.
The Dodgers’ lead in the NL West was nine games when the streak began. It was down to four games going into Saturday.
It’s now at five games after the victory on Saturday.
The All-Star Futures Game
Josue De Paula, the Dodgers’ №1 prospect, hit a three-run home run in the fourth inning of the All-Star Futures Game in Atlanta on Saturday. He was named Most Valuable Player of the prospect showcase game — the first Dodger Futures Game MVP since Chin-lung Hu in 2007.
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The three-run blast was off MLB №17 prospect and left-hander Noah Schultz (Chicago White Sox).
The left-handed hitting outfielder De Paula is the №27 prospect as rated by MLB.com.
De Paula drove in Dodger №2 prospect and outfielder Zyhir Hope, who singled and was 1-for-2 in the game.
Hope is the №37 prospect in baseball.
The Dodgers take a piggyback ride back into the win column was originally published in Dodger Insider on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.