MINNEAPOLIS — Alex Call gets a seed shower in the dugout after scoring during the Dodgers’ 12-3 win over the Twins. Credit: @Dodgers
MINNEAPOLIS — For five innings, the Twins kept doing just enough to make the Dodgers sweat. Every time Los Angeles grabbed a lead, Minnesota found an answer, trading runs across the first three frames like neither side wanted to commit to the game actually breaking open. Then the fourth inning hit, and by the time the ninth was finished, what had been a one-run game for most of the night turned into a 12-3 laugher, with the Dodgers pouring in five runs in the final frame alone to push the series lead to 2-0.
A Shootout Start That Refused to Stay Tied
Shohei Ohtani and Andy Pages both walked to open the game, and Tommy Edman cashed Ohtani in with a single off the glove of Twins second baseman Luke Keaschall for a quick 1-0 lead. It didn’t last. Victor Caratini answered with a solo homer in the bottom of the second to tie it, and the back-and-forth continued from there. Freddie Freeman doubled in the third to set up a Tommy Edman run-scoring reach on a throwing error, only for Minnesota to tie it right back up in the bottom half when Josh Bell singled home Byron Buxton, who had doubled two batters earlier. By the end of three innings, the Dodgers had led twice and the Twins had erased it both times.
MINNEAPOLIS — Tommy Edman (left) and Shohei Ohtani (right) round the bases during the Dodgers’ early scoring against the Twins. Credit: @losdodgers
Freeman and the Top of the Order Finally Pull Away
The Dodgers stopped letting Minnesota off the hook in the fourth. Alex Call and Chuckie Robinson strung together back-to-back singles around an Alex Freeland line out, and Ohtani lifted a sacrifice fly to plate Call for a 3-2 lead. Andy Pages and Freeman kept it rolling with consecutive RBI singles, and Mookie Betts added another to make it 5-2 before the inning was through. Freeman wasn’t finished. He came back in the sixth and ripped a two-out double to right that brought home Pages for a 6-2 cushion, and by the time the seventh rolled around, a two-out rally featuring an Alex Call walk, an Alex Freeland single, and a sacrifice bunt off the bat of Chuckie Robinson pushed the lead to 7-2. Freeman finished the night a perfect 5-for-5 with three runs scored, while Pages chipped in three hits of his own.
Wrobleski Grinds Through, Bullpen Locks the Door
Justin Wrobleski didn’t have his cleanest outing, but he found a way to get through seven innings, allowing five hits and two earned runs while striking out three and picking up the win to improve to 9-2 on the season. The Twins had runners aboard against him throughout the night, including Royce Lewis reaching base in three straight at-bats at one point, but Wrobleski kept working around the traffic and never let the game get away from the Dodgers’ lead. Edgardo Henriquez relieved him in the eighth and needed just one inning to retire the side in order around a strikeout of Royce Lewis. Brock Stewart closed it out in the ninth, allowing a solo homer to Brooks Lee but otherwise keeping Minnesota off the board as the Dodgers’ offense had already made the outcome a formality.
MINNEAPOLIS — Justin Wrobleski (left), Edgardo Henríquez (right), and Brock Stewart celebrate with Chuckie Robinson (bottom) after the Dodgers’ bullpen closed out the 12-3 win over the Twins. Credit: @losdodgers
The Ninth Inning Turns a Win Into a Rout
Just when it looked like the Dodgers might coast to a comfortable but unremarkable finish, the lineup put together one of its loudest innings of the season. Alex Call opened the ninth with a solo homer, his first of the year, and Alex Freeland walked right behind him. After Chuckie Robinson flew out, Dave Roberts sent Miguel Rojas to pinch hit for Ohtani, and Rojas delivered immediately, doubling in Freeland to make it 9-2. Andy Pages singled home Rojas one batter later, and after a Freeman line out, Mookie Betts and Tommy Edman both reached to load the bases for Max Muncy, who unloaded a two-run double to right field that pushed the score to 12-2 before Minnesota even got to bat in the bottom of the inning. Lee’s late homer off Stewart was the only blemish, a footnote on a night the Dodgers turned a tight, scrappy game into a laugher in the span of one inning.
Up Next
The Dodgers and Twins close out the series Wednesday at Target Field, with Ohtani taking the mound himself to face Twins ace Joe Ryan. First pitch is set for 4:40 p.m. PST as Los Angeles looks to complete the sweep after taking the first two games of the series.
Shohei Ohtani gets the ball for the series finale against the Twins on Wednesday. Credit: @losdodgers