Week of August 6 to August 13
Wednesday, August 6th
Game 3 of 3 vs. St. Louis Cardinals
Shohei had a historic afternoon in the finale against the Cardinals, going 1 for 3 at the plate with a home run (his 39th), a walk, 2 RBI’s, and a run scored. He was also the starting pitcher and went 4 strong innings in his 8th start of the season, striking out 8 batters, including striking out the side in his final frame. His two-run homer in the 3rd inning was his 1,000th career MLB hit. Despite taking a 3-1 lead into the 6th, the Cardinals beat the Dodgers by a final score of 5-3, taking the series from the Dodgers 2 games to 1.
Thursday, August 7th
The Dodgers had the day off.
Friday, August 8th
Game 1 of 3 vs. Toronto Blue Jays
The Dodgers continued their homestand against the AL East-leading Toronto Blue Jays, featuring a pitching duel between two future Hall of Famers and members of the 3,000-strikeout club, Clayton Kershaw and Max Scherzer, who each have 3 Cy Young Awards. Ohtani’s bat stayed hot in front of a sellout crowd of 53,825 as he went 3 for 5 for the evening, including a ground-rule double and two runs scored. Shohei’s batting average reached .280 for the first time in a month as the Dodgers cruised to a 5-1 victory despite a quality start from Scherzer. Kershaw pitched efficiently to get the win, throwing only 74 pitches to get through 6 innings.
Game 2 of 3 vs. Toronto Blue Jays
In only his second game back from injured reserve, Dodgers pitcher Blake Snell was dominating, striking out 10 batters in 5 shutout innings as the Dodgers crushed the Blue Jays 9-1. Shohei homered to center field in the 5th inning to reach 40 home runs for the season. Overall, at the plate, Ohtani went 2 for 4 with a walk, an RBI, and a run scored. The Blue Jays kept it relatively close until the bottom of the 6th inning, when the Dodgers put up 6 runs and never looked back.
Sunday, August 10th
Game 3 of 3 vs. Toronto Blue Jays
The Dodgers failed to complete the sweep against the Blue Jays, losing a close one on Sunday afternoon, 5-4. Shohei started things off with a bang, hitting a lead-off homer in the bottom of the 1st inning, his 41st of the season. Freddie Freeman added another solo shot in the inning to give the Dodgers a 2-1 lead. The game was tied 4-4 heading into the 9th inning when Blue Jays’ Ernie Clement hit a solo home run to left off of Dodgers reliever Alex Vesia to give the Blue Jays a 5-4 lead. The Dodgers loaded them up in the bottom of the 9th, but Shohei and Mookie Betts were unable to advance the runners, and the game ended with Toronto getting the victory. Ohtani had his third multi-hit game in a row, going 2 for 4 with 2 walks, an RBI, and a run scored, but he also struck out with bases loaded in the bottom of the 9th for the 2nd out in the inning.
Monday, August 11th
Game 1 of 3 at Los Angeles Angels
The Dodgers were back on the road to visit their cross-town rivals to start a 3-game series after being swept by the Angels at home in May. Dodgers Ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto took the mound against Angels pitcher Jose Soriano, who was coming off a tough outing in his last start. Despite looking good at times, Yamamoto got roughed up, giving up 6 runs and 5 walks in 4 2/3 innings pitched. Angels’ leadoff hitter Zach Neto homered twice in the game. His 6th inning homer put the Halos up by a score of 7-0. The Dodgers rallied in the 8th inning, putting up 4 runs as Ohtani and Muncy each homered, but it was too little too late. With the win, the Angels took a 4-0 lead in the season series, while the Dodgers’ lead in the NL West shrank to only one game following the loss. Shohei finished the night 1 for 3 with a walk, RBI, and run scored. Jose Soriano got the win, pitching 6 scoreless innings.
Tuesday, August 12th
Game 2 of 3 at Los Angeles Angels
Tuesday’s game was full of highs and lows for Shohei Ohtani and the Dodgers, but at the end of the evening things weren’t great as the Dodgers lost for the 5th time in a row to the Angels 6-7 and fell into a tie for first place with the San Diego Padres after their 3rd consecutive loss. Ohtani lined into a triple play in the 6th inning before hitting a leadoff homer in the 9th to give the Dodgers a 6-5 lead. The Angels rallied in the bottom of the 9th to tie the game at 6-6, then clinched the deal on a Jo Adell walk off single in the bottom of the 10th. For the game, Ohtani was 1 for 3 with 2 walks, 2 runs scored, and RBI and the aforementioned home run, his NL-league leading 43rd of the season.
Notes:
Going into Wednesday’s action, the Dodgers are a lackluster 15-20 since the start of July and 10-13 since the All-Star break.
Roki Sasaki pitched 3 innings last Friday in a simulated game, throwing 46 pitches. The Dodgers expect Sasaki to return at some point this season. Sasaki struggled before getting injured, but the talented hurler is expected to become an impact pitcher for the Dodgers.
Critics are getting louder after the Dodgers’ relatively silent trade deadline that netted them reliever Brock Stewart and outfielder Alex Call, while trading away Dustin May. Hopefully, players returning from injury will be enough to bolster the team for the stretch run.
The Milwaukee Brewers have won 11 straight games, improving their MLB-best record to 75-44.
Tuesday’s triple play was the 8th in Angels’ history.