Ohtani leads the way for Dodgers over Padres

Yesterday at 01:55 AM

Ohtani and company provided just enough offense to set up the win over San Diego. LA's magic number is 2.

Taken to the extremes by a formidable opponent, the Dodgers found peace of mind with a 4-3 win over the Padres on Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium, now more firmly in total control of the NL West's outcome.

It's only fitting that in this team's most pivotal regular season game, its most important, its Most Valuable Player would play the role of hero. Shohei Ohtani's 2-RBI effort paved the way for the Dodgers win. The first of Ohtani's runs batted in came against Cease in the fourth, and a couple of innings later he got to Arian Morejón for a go-ahead single.

Ohtani's second hit gave the Dodgers the lead in the sixth inning, and prompted an outpouring of emotion from him toward the dugout, something that has become a more regular occurrence in the last week with the playoffs nearing.

When dangerous offenses meet outstanding pitchers, usually the advantage goes to the pitcher visa vee most low-scoring All-Star games. On a night when both starters were far from their sharpest selves, neither attack was fully able to take advantage of things in an impactful way for the game.

It's become a cliché to hear about capitalizing on any first-inning opportunities against an ace, but it has become one because it is true. Yet again, the Dodgers found themselves with an opportunity to punish Dylan Cease in the first after he walked multiple hitters, but settled for a single run. This started a trend that would follow the first half of the game, the Dodgers would threaten and settle, and the Padres would answer quickly, getting to Jack Flaherty.

The Dodgers' early lead evaporated as soon as it came, with San Diego putting up two runs in the second. It shouldn't go unnoticed that the threat was much larger and probably if it were one of the several other Dodger starters on the mound, Yoshiobu Yamamoto notwithstanding, damage would be larger. After the first three reached, San Diego had runners at the corners, Flaherty on the ropes, and no outs, they only scored one run.

Both starters labored through most innings until this scenario repeated itself in the fourth, the Dodgers regained the lead with a two-out bottom-of-the-lineup rally only to see Fernando Tatis Jr. tie things up with a mammoth homer in the fifth.

Needing 100 pitches to cover five innings and allowing three runs won't get you treated as an ace, but a different look at Flaherty shows a pitcher who kept the Dodgers in a regular season game with a near-postseason atmosphere. That would end up virtually the same lie for Cease, who also left his bullpen to cover four innings in a tied game.

While the Padres' bullpen faltered at the first sign of trouble, the Dodgers' one held firm. Blake Treinen deserves some attention, mowing down the heart of the order in a mere seven pitches, and retaining the ability to pitch again tomorrow.

Sunday particulars

Home runs: Fernando Tatis Jr. (21)

WP —Alex Vesia (5-4): 1+ IP, 2 walks

LP — Jeremiah Estrada (6-3): ⅔ IP, 1 run, 2 walks, 1 strikeout

Sv — Michael Kopech (15): 1 IP, 1 walk, 1 strikeout

Up next

These two teams will battle it out for the final time in 2024 on Thursday at the same place and same time (7:10 p.m., SportsNet LA). Joe Musgrove and Walker Buehler will face off in a battle of the longest-tenured starting pitchers who have pitched in this series. If the Dodgers win Thursday, they clinch the division.