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Shohei Ohtani snaps slump as Dodgers take heavyweight series from Cubs
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- Shohei Ohtani snaps slump as Dodgers take heavyweight series from Cubs
As the defending two-time champions, the Dodgers don’t exactly need litmus tests.
Still, this weekend gave them a chance to size up one of their biggest fellow National League contenders — and reaffirm their own status as MLB’s foremost World Series threat once again.
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After dropping a Friday night series opener to the Cubs that ran Chicago ’s win streak to 10 games, the Dodgers bounced back the way title-winning teams are supposed to, cruising to back-to-back victories at Dodger Stadium to rally and take the three-game set.
Kyle Tucker went 1-for-3 and scored two runs Sunday against the Cubs. Jonathan Hui-Imagn Images
The series was decided Sunday, in a 6-0 Dodgers win keyed by another pitching gem from Justin Wrobleski and another resurgent day from the club’s relentless lineup.
Wrobleski spun six scoreless innings in his start, despite battling poor command, heavy traffic and a high pitch count early.
The Dodgers (19-9) gave him plenty of support by striking for three runs in the first (including two on a Miguel Rojas double), two more after Wrobleski left the mound in the sixth (which was keyed by a double from Andy Pages and RBI single from Dalton Rushing ), then another in the seventh when Shohei Ohtani snapped his two-week home run drought with an insurance blast to the opposite field.
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“I think it’s so important when you get good starting pitching, good defense,” Rojas said. “And the last couple games have been good for the offense. We’ve gotten an opportunity to work on the things we need to work on.”
Indeed, it remains early days of the season. Even the Dodgers (and some of their superstar hitters, in particular ) are still working through some kinks.
But come October, it’s already looking likely that the Dodgers and Cubs could wind up crossing paths again. Earlier this week, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts predicted the Cubs to “be in the mix” as his team goes for a third straight championship.
“They can really defend,” he said. “And they can really hit.”
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For now, however, the Dodgers’ supremacy remains undisputed. Even the hottest team in the majors couldn’t temporarily knock them from their perch.
“[We have a] really good way of manufacturing runs,” Ohtani told SportsNet LA after the game through interpreter Will Ireton. “And we have a really good pitching staff.”
Both were good enough this week for them to come back and take a series from the Cubs.
What it means
For starters, that there was once again a postgame toast in the Dodgers’ clubhouse to celebrate a series win — their first since sweeping the Mets during their previous homestand.
Before these last two games, the Dodgers had lost five of seven, failing to win either series during their recent road trip to Denver and San Francisco . For the first time, there were fears they might enter their first true skid of the season, especially in the wake of Edwin Díaz ’s injury.
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Two days later, so much for all that.
The Dodgers are now one win behind the Braves for most in the majors. They are also 11-4 on their home field, having won four of the five series they’ve played at Chavez Ravine this year.
Shohei Ohtani, who went 3-for-3 including a home run, steals second base Sunday against the Cubs. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Who’s hot
For the first time in a little while, Ohtani.
Entering Sunday, the two-way star was 1-for-his-last-15, had gone six games without an extra-base hit and was mired in a two-week home run drought –– his longest since joining the Dodgers three years ago.
Then, he turned in one of his best offensive games of the season, going 3-for-3 with a walk, a double, a stolen base and his solo home run in the seventh.
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“I talked to him a couple days ago, and he said his setup was a little bit off,” Roberts said.
So, on Saturday, he made an adjustment with his batting stance and saw the results immediately reappear.
“The at-bat quality over the last couple days has been fantastic,” Roberts said. “He got his setup, his direction better.”
It will take more such performances for the four-time MVP to get back to his typically atmospheric standards, of course. Even after Sunday, he is batting .262 with an .876 OPS.
However, once Ohtani finds his swing, it usually doesn’t take long for him to heat up. The last couple weeks, the Dodgers have been waiting for it. Sunday, they will hope, is a sign that plenty more is soon to come.
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Who’s not
Now that Ohtani has turned a corner, the Dodgers will count on their other superstar sluggers to do the same.
So far, it hasn’t happened for Freddie Freeman .
Freeman went 0-for-4 Sunday and is now 4-for-23 in his last six games. The last four of those contests have been with Freeman batting second –– continuing the Dodgers’ season-long production problems from that spot in the lineup (which was previously occupied by Kyle Tucker , who has three doubles in four games since dropping down to the middle of the order).
Up next
The Dodgers open a three-game set against the Marlins on Monday night, with Yoshinobu Yamamoto (2-2, 2.48 ERA) facing Chris Paddack (0-4, 6.38 ERA). Ohtani will also start as a pitcher in the series on Tuesday — notable, because the Dodgers decided against pushing his outing back to Wednesday so he could pitch ahead of Thursday’s off day.
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