LOS ANGELES — Orioles closer Yennier Cano embraces catcher Samuel Basallo after closing out a 3-2 win over the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. Credit: @orioles
LOS ANGELES — Shohei Ohtani came back to a lineup that needed him, and for one swing in the ninth inning, it looked like he might be enough to flip the whole night on its head. He wasn’t quite. The Dodgers dropped the second game of their series with Baltimore 3-2 on Saturday at Dodger Stadium, a night where Yoshinobu Yamamoto did everything but get bailed out and the Orioles made just enough small, quiet plays to hold on.
Ohtani Back, Lineup Stays Quiet Early
Ohtani was activated back into the lineup after missing Friday’s game on paternity leave, a day after announcing on Instagram that he and his wife welcomed their second child. He popped out sharply in his first at-bat back, and the Dodgers as a whole struggled to find any traction against Baltimore starter Trevor Rogers. Andy Pages drew a walk in the first but was caught stealing two batters later, and Freddie Freeman struck out to end the inning. It set a tone. Through five innings, Rogers retired the Dodgers in order three separate times, and the only real threat Los Angeles mounted came and went without a run to show for it.
Yamamoto Battles, Small Mistakes Add Up
Yamamoto did not have his swing-and-miss stuff working at full volume, but he competed all night, scattering six hits across six innings and striking out six. The trouble was that Baltimore didn’t need the long ball to make him pay. In the second, Coby Mayo grounded into what looked like a routine force out, except Leody Taveras came around to score from third on the play, and the Orioles had the lead before Yamamoto ever got comfortable. Two innings later, the Orioles strung together two singles and a walk to load the bases, and Blaze Alexander turned a ground ball that deflected off Tommy Edman’s glove into a two-run double. Just like that, a game Yamamoto was pitching well enough to win had him down 3-0, and none of it came on a ball that left the yard.
Tommy Edman gave the Dodgers a small measure of revenge for that deflected double an inning later, breaking up Rogers’ no-hit bid with a two-out single in the fifth. It didn’t lead to anything that night, but it kept the building from going completely silent, and it set up a much louder finish than anyone expected.
Ohtani’s Blast Sparks a Ninth-Inning Push
Down to their final three outs and trailing by three, the Dodgers needed somebody to swing the night back in their direction, and Ohtani obliged. He led off the bottom of the ninth against Baltimore reliever Andrew Kittredge and drove one out to center field, cutting the deficit to 3-1 and turning a quiet crowd into a loud one in the time it took the ball to land. Freeman drew a walk two batters later to keep the line moving, and after Mookie Betts beat out an infield single that survived an Orioles replay challenge, Tommy Edman reached on a fielding error by Leody Taveras in right field that let Freeman score and put the tying run at third base with two outs.
That’s as close as it got. Kyle Tucker struck out swinging to end it, stranding the tying run ninety feet away and sealing a 3-2 final that felt a lot tighter than the box score suggests it should have. Edman finished the night 2-for-4 and was at the center of nearly everything that went right for Los Angeles, from the broken-up no-hitter to the error that nearly forced extra innings.
Up Next
The Dodgers and Orioles close out the series Sunday at 1:10 p.m. PST at Dodger Stadium, with Emmet Sheehan taking the mound against Baltimore’s Brandon Young. Los Angeles will be looking to salvage the rubber match after a series that has swung late in both directions, first on a walk-off Friday and now on a rally that came one swing short on Saturday.
LOS ANGELES — Emmet Sheehan is set to take the mound Sunday when the Dodgers close out their series against the Baltimore Orioles. Credit: @dodgers