SAN FRANCISCO –– Shohei Ohtani saved his on-base streak with an infield single in the seventh inning on Tuesday night.
But in the Dodgers’ 3-1 loss to the San Francisco Giants, it wasn’t enough to spur a late comeback.
By the time Ohtani came up for his final at-bat in Tuesday’s series-opener at Oracle Park, it had been a long night for both himself and his team.
The Dodgers had fallen behind early with a comedy of errors in a three-run first inning. They had barely threatened offensively outside of a four-walk rally in the fourth.
Ohtani himself was hitless at that point, having struck out his first two times up before hitting a harmless flyout in the fifth inning.
But then, for a fleeting moment, he gave the club renewed life.
After Alex Freeland had drawn a two-out walk in the at-bat before him, Ohtani made some club history with his ground ball to shortstop, flying down the line to beat out a bang-bang play at first.
With that, Ohtani had his on-base streak to 53 games dating back to last year –– tying him with Shawn Green for the longest on-base streak in the Dodgers’ Los Angeles era (Green reached safely in 53 consecutive games during the 2000 season), and moving him five back of Duke Snider for the franchise’s all-time mark (which Snider set back in Brooklyn in 1954).
“It speaks to his talent,” manager Dave Roberts said of the four-time MVP, who has kept the run going despite an 11-for-43 grind at the plate over his last 11 games. “He’s really not hit his stride yet. He’s really not comfortable with his swing. It just shows that he’s an impact player. He’s getting on base.”
Unfortunately for the Dodgers (16-7), they couldn’t capitalize in a lackluster offensive performance, en route to suffering their third loss in the last four games.
Even before then, the team had wasted key chances –– none bigger than the inning-ending double-play that Alex Call grounded into with the bases loaded in the fourth.
Things only got worse after Ohtani’s infield hit put two aboard in the seventh.
Kyle Tucker struck out to extinguish that threat. The Dodgers left another runner stranded on second in the eighth. And overall, they finished a three-hit, seven-walk night with eight baserunners squandered and 0-for-5 mark with runners in scoring position.
“I think we took good at-bats overall, we grinded them out,” Call said. “Ultimately, we just didn’t get the big hit when we needed it.”
Forcing Ohtani’s historic moment to come in defeat.
What it means
Yet again, the Dodgers didn’t have to worry about their opening at closer in the wake of Edwin Díaz’s injury.
After blowing out the Rockies in their first game without their $69 million offseason signing, Tuesday’s loss also came without a save opportunity.
Despite that, the team’s ninth-inning plans remained a topic of conversation prior to first pitch.
Roberts reiterated that the club will go closer-by-committee for now, with several relievers in the mix for save opportunities. But when he was pressed on who he thinks will get the most, he finally relented.
“I would say probably Tanner Scott, if I had to guess,” he said.
That might send a shiver down some Dodger fans’ spines, after Scott converted only 23 of 33 save opportunities as the club’s primary closer last year.
However, the left-hander has gotten off to a better start this year, lowering his ERA to 0.93 on Tuesday by pitching a scoreless inning in the eighth.
Who’s hot
Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who responded to the three-run first inning with some of his most dominant pitching this season.
After the Giants took their 3-0 lead –– we’ll get to how they did so in a minute –– Yamamoto didn’t allow another run in a seven-inning, 101-pitch outing. He finished with seven strikeouts, including three in a row to punctuate his night in the seventh. He retired 19 of his final 22 batters, leaving his ERA at 2.48 through five starts this year.
“I think it shows why he’s the staff ace,” Roberts said. “For him to manage the pitch count, give up three runs and then go seven innings and give us a chance to win the game, says a lot about him.”
Who’s not
The Dodgers’ defense, especially in Tuesday’s first inning.
The three-run frame started with an error from shortstop Hyeseong Kim, who airmailed a throw into the dugout to put Yamamoto under immediate stress. It was bookended by a flare to right field Kyle Tucker couldn’t get to.
But the worst moment came on a fly ball in between.
With the bases loaded, and one run already across in the inning, Call and Teoscar Hernández collided in left-center field, miscommunicating on what should’ve been a routine play.
Hernández initially erred in left, breaking back on a ball that wound up falling well in front of him. Then, as he and Call converged, neither heard the other trying to call to make the play. It resulted in a violent collision that Call got the worst of. And though he managed to hang on to the catch, he had no chance to hold the runner at third in what resulted in a sacrifice fly.
“Certainly not the way you want to start the series,” Robert said.
Up next
Shohei Ohtani (2-0, 0.50 ERA) will take the mound for the Dodgers as they continue their series against the Giants on Wednesday. And this time, he will be back in the batting order as designated hitter –– though Roberts took a long pause before confirming that in his pregame address Tuesday.
Roberts said the team will still look for opportunities where they have Ohtani only pitch on his start days, as they did last week while he was nursing a shoulder bruise.”It takes a little bit of a toll,” Roberts said of the days Ohtani plays both ways. “He certainly has managed it really well, but if it makes sense, I’ll have that conversation with him.”
For Wednesday, however, Roberts said he felt good with Ohtani hitting and pitching, even with a day game looming on Thursday.
