Shohei Ohtani turned in a brilliant performance Thursday night, connecting for two home runs and driving in six runs in the Los Angeles Dodgers' crushing 19-2 victory over the Oakland Athletics at Dodger Stadium.
The Dodgers displayed an unstoppable offense, totaling five homers. Max Muncy, Andy Pages and James Outman also contributed with home runs, consolidating an offense that gave the visiting team no respite. By the end of the third inning, Los Angeles already dominated 13-2, after a seven-run offensive outburst in that inning.
Muncy and Kim Unstoppable
Muncy and Hyeseong Kim were the offensive leaders in terms of hits with three each. The Dodgers took control from the start and never gave up any ground at any point in the game.
Right-hander Matt Sauer opened the game for the Dodgers in a game scheduled as a bullpen game. He allowed two runs in four innings. Then, left-hander Justin Wrobleski, newly promoted from the minor leagues earlier in the day, pitched four shutout innings and picked up the win, the first of his career this season (1-1).
Oakland had a tough night from the mound. Osvaldo Bido, the Athletics' starter, was barely able to pitch 1 2/3 innings, in which he allowed six runs, five hits, two walks and struck out two. Jason Alexander came on in relief, but also failed to contain the Dodgers, allowing nine runs, seven hits and four walks in 2 1/3 innings.
The Athletics briefly took a 1-0 lead in the first episode, and Bido had a highlight as he struck out Ohtani to start the bottom half. The dominance was short-lived, however. Freddie Freeman tied it with a driving single and Muncy followed with a two-run home run to make the score 3-1. Muncy has three home runs on the season, two of them in the last two games.
Oakland scored its second and final run in the second inning on a solo homer by Max Schuemann, the first of his major league career. But the Dodgers responded immediately with a sacrifice fly by Ohtani and producing singles by Mookie Betts and Muncy, extending the lead to 6-2.
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Dodgers Continue to Beat Up
In the third inning, the Dodgers once again unleashed a ferocious offense. Ohtani and Pages each connected for three-run home runs, pushing the lead to 13-2. With his two home runs, Ohtani reached 15 on the season, tying him for the major league lead. This was his fourth multi-homer game in his two seasons with the Dodgers, in a total of 201 appearances.
Outman added his second home run of the year in the sixth inning, bringing the score to 16-2. In the eighth inning, the Dodgers scored three more, sending eight batters to the plate. The Athletics ended up turning to catcher Jhonny Pereda as a pitcher to end the game.
One of the most exciting moments of the night was the debut of the Dodgers' top prospect, Dalton Rushing. In his first major league appearance, the 24-year-old catcher picked up a base on balls in his first at-bat and hit a single in his first official at-bat in the third inning. He finished the game 4-2, with three runs scored, showing his great potential.
With this dominant win, the Dodgers reaffirm their position as one of the strongest teams in MLB, while the Athletics continue to search for stability in a difficult season.
