Freeman has 3 hits, scores a run and drives in another, backing a scoreless start by Yamamoto. Dodgers head back to LA after a 5-4 road trip.
Scoring runs was a Sisyphean effort for both teams all weekend at Steinbrenner Field, and Sunday was the lowest-scoring game of a weekend where the temperatures were high and batting averages low.
The Dodgers scored single runs in the sixth, seventh, and ninth innings, which was enough to beat the Rays 3-0 on Sunday in Tampa. All three games of the series were shutouts, with two of the wins by Los Angeles.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto was on his game yet again, pitching scoreless baseball into the sixth inning, and allowed only five singles with six strikeouts. His only real rough patch came in the fifth inning, when Yamamoto was late covering first base on an infield hit by Jake Mangum, then saw his low throw not fielded cleanly by Freddie Freeman at first base for an error to put two runners on.
Yamamoto got out of the inning with a pop out and strikeout, one of six strikeouts on the day for the right-hander. He finished with 5⅔ scoreless innings, his eighth scoreless start of the season. Yamamoto has allowed zero or one run more often (12 starts) than not (10 starts) this year.
Freeman atoned for his missed catch with another strong day at the plate. He had three more hits on Sunday, scored the Dodgers first run and drove in the second.
Old friend Hunter Feduccia started behind the plate in the final two games of the series after getting traded to the Rays on Thursday. The Dodgers stole four bases off him and the Tampa Bay pitching staff on Sunday, understandable considering Feduccia threw out only six of 70 attempted stealers (8.6 percent) in 52 starts for Triple-A Oklahoma City this season.
Three of the steals came in the seventh inning. Shohei Ohtani beat out an infield single then stole second, followed by a Mookie Betts walk and a double steal. That put two runners in scoring position for Freeman, who continued his red-hot week with an RBI single.
Betts was held at third base with runners on the corners, but any hopes for a big inning were squashed when Will Smith grounded into a double play to end the frame.
Ohtani doubled and Betts hit a sacrifice fly for an insurance run in the ninth. Freeman scalded another ball to the left field wall, but was robbed by Jake Mangum with a leaping catch that at minimum prevented an RBI double and might have taken away a two-run home run.
Blake Treinen opened the ninth inning with a walk, the first free pass issued by a Dodgers pitcher during the three-game series. He struck out two but allowed a one-out single and two-out walk to load the bases. Dave Roberts pulled Treinen in favor of Ben Casparius, who got Saturday Dodgers nemesis Yandy Díaz to ground out close out the game.
Casparius began the road trip with zero professional saves, but he saved the first game of the trip in Boston and the final game in Tampa.
Notes
- Tommy Edman singled in the fifth inning but sprained his right ankle rounding first base and left the game, aggravating an injury that has plagued him this season.
- Brock Stewart made his Dodgers debut with a scoreless eighth inning, working around a two-out single. He’s the 38th different Dodgers pitcher this season.
Sunday particulars
Home runs: none
WP — Yoshinobu Yamamoto (10-7): 5⅔ IP, 5 hits, 6 strikeouts
LP — Mason Englert (0-1): 2 IP, 4 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks
Sv — Ben Casparius (2): 1 up, 1 down
Up next
The 5-4 road trip now complete, the Dodgers return home to face the Cardinals beginning Monday night (7:10 p.m., SportsNet LA) at Dodger Stadium. Tyler Glasnow starts for Los Angeles, with Sonny Gray on the mound for St. Louis.