SACRAMENTO — Teoscar Hernández showers Shohei Ohtani with sunflower seeds in the dugout after his three-run blast put the Dodgers in firm control. Credit: @Dodgers
SACRAMENTO — The Dodgers and Athletics spent the first two innings trading haymakers at Sutter Health Park, and then Los Angeles found the knockout combination. Shohei Ohtani, Max Muncy and Andy Pages all left the yard, Eric Lauer steadied himself after some early traffic, and the Dodgers pulled away for a 9-4 win to open their three-game series against the A’s.
A Quick Lead, and an Even Quicker Answer
Los Angeles wasted no time putting runs on the board. Teoscar Hernández and Kyle Tucker opened the second inning with back-to-back singles, Max Muncy lined a single to drive in Hernández, and Dalton Rushing followed with a base hit to plate Tucker and make it 2-0. It looked like the kind of clean, professional start that puts a game away early.
The A’s had other plans. Colby Thomas answered in the bottom half with a solo homer to right center, and Oakland kept the line moving from there, stringing together three straight singles that included a two-run knock from Joshua Kuroda-Grauer and a run-scoring groundout that erased any cushion the Dodgers had built. By the time the dust settled, the home team had flipped a two-run deficit into a 3-2 lead.
Muncy and Pages Strike Back
Los Angeles didn’t flinch. Muncy erased the deficit himself in the fourth, golfing his 17th homer of the season to right center to tie it at three.
Miguel Rojas followed two batters later with a sharp double, and after a strikeout and a lineout, Andy Pages turned on one and drove it out to left field for his 16th homer, a two-run shot that pushed the lead back to 5-3 and put the answer to the A’s rally squarely back on the board.
Ohtani Provides the Separation
It was Teoscar Hernández’s first game back in the lineup, and it was Ohtani who delivered the night’s loudest moment. With Rojas and Rushing aboard in the sixth, Ohtani lined his 18th homer of the year into the right field seats, a three-run blast that turned a tight ballgame into a comfortable one and made it 8-3. Freddie Freeman tacked on an RBI single two innings later to push the margin to 9-3, and from that point the only question was whether Oakland could make it interesting late.
Top to Bottom, the Lineup Delivered
The homers got the headlines, but this was a complete night at the plate. Ohtani finished 2-for-5 with three RBIs, Pages went 2-for-5 with two RBIs of his own, and Rushing chipped in two hits, a walk and a run scored from the bottom of the order. Even Alex Freeland, filling in at second base after a pinch-hit appearance for Rojas, found his way on base. Seventeen hits across nine batters is the kind of night that makes a starting pitcher’s rough patches a footnote instead of a problem, and it gave Los Angeles enough cushion to survive every Oakland response.
Lauer Holds the Line, Bullpen Cleans It Up
Eric Lauer wasn’t sharp in the traditional sense, allowing nine hits and three earned runs over six innings, but he kept finding outs when it mattered and left with a lead the Dodgers never gave back. Kyle Hurt followed with a perfect seventh and three strikeouts, looking every bit like a reliever trusted to hand the ball off clean. Jonathan Hernández worked around a run in the eighth, and Jack Dreyer ran into a bit of trouble in the ninth, walking Nick Kurtz and uncorking a wild pitch that let Joshua Kuroda-Grauer score from third. It was the only blemish in an otherwise tidy night for the bullpen, and Dreyer recovered to get the final two outs and lock up the 9-4 final.
Up Next
The win was also the 999th of manager Dave Roberts’ career, with a milestone now squarely in sight as the calendar turns toward July. Los Angeles will look to build on the series-opening victory Tuesday, when Justin Wrobleski takes the mound against Oakland’s Jeffrey Springs for game two at Sutter Health Park, with the Dodgers aiming to put the series away early before closing out the trip.
SACRAMENTO — Justin Wrobleski will get the ball for the Dodgers in game two against Oakland, with first pitch set for Tuesday at Sutter Health Park. Credit: @LosDodgers