The Dodgers honored the life and legacy of Jackie Robinson on Wednesday, and then proceeded to back Shohei Ohtani’s gem with four home runs as they swept the New York Mets with a dominant 8-2 victory.
Dodgers fans might have been disappointed that they weren’t afforded the opportunity to see Ohtani demonstrate his two-ways powers, but he certainly made up for it with another dazzling start.
Both team were held scoreless in the first inning for the first time in the series, but after Clay Holmes got
two quick outs in the bottom of the second inning, Dalton Rushing continued his torrid start with a two-out double down the right field line. Hyeseong Kim attacked a sinker down the middle on a 1-1 count and sent it just past a leaping Carson Benge for his first home run of the season, giving the Dodgers an early two-run lead.
The Mets broke through against Ohtani in the top of the third as M.J. Melendez lined a double to the left-center field gap to bring up the potential tying run. Ohtani, who already had one strikeout in the inning, got Tommy Pham swinging for the second out. On the 11th pitch of his battle against Francisco Lindor, he side-stepped him, and blew a fastball at 100 miles per hour by him for his third strikeout of the inning to leave Melendez at second.
Ohtani had gone the first four innings without allowing a walk, but he immediately issued a free pass to Francisco Alvarez to begin the top of the fifth. Carson Benge would have made it two on with nobody out as he lined a would-be single to left field, but Alvarez thought that Teoscar Hernández had made the catch on a diving attempt. Hernández had actually trapped it, and he threw out the lead-runner with Alvarez retreated back to first.
The Mets made up for their base running blunder as Marcus Semien reached on Ohtani’s second walk of the inning, and Melendez connected for his second double of the game, driving home Benge and marking Ohtani’s first earned run of the season. Ohtani rebounded with another strikeout of Pham, and he kept the lead intact by getting Lindor to line out to left field.
The Dodgers had Blake Treinen warming up in the bullpen during the top of the fifth, but Ohtani stayed out for the sixth inning. The decision to keep Treinen from entering paid off, as Ohtani struck out the side in order to cap off the Dodgers’ third consecutive quality start against the Mets and a 10 strikeout performance from their regular leadoff hitter.
Teoscar Hernández greeted Mets reliever Tobias Myers rudely in the bottom of the sixth inning by connecting for a solo home run to the opposite field to give the Dodgers a two-run lead.
Blake Treinen eventually entered the game for the seventh inning, and he continued his impressive start to the season as he worked around a one-out double from Carson Benge to keep his ERA scoreless over 6 2/3 innings on the mound this year. Tanner Scott added to his turnaround start to the season with a perfect top of the eighth inning on just eight pitches.
The Dodgers looked to get some insurance against the former All-Star closer Devin Williams, and Teoscar Hernández beat out a routine ground ball to Lindor for an infield single. Things continued to unravel for the Mets, as Williams walked Muncy before Andy Pages drilled a ball over the head of Benge in right field, but both baserunners held on the play and were forced to advance just 90 feet. Dalton Rushing erased a possible save opportunity for Edwin Díaz by drilling a grand slam to center field to put the game out of reach.
In need of getting anything going his way offensively, and after lining out on a ball hit 107 miles per hour, Kyle Tucker connected for his first home run in front of the home crowd in a Dodgers uniform, giving the Dodgers a seven run lead and giving the Dodgers their fourth four home run game of the season.
Kyle Hurt made his long-awaited return from injury one day shy of two whole years since his last appearance, and it started off well with a strikeout of Brett Baty. Hurt allowed a single to Bo Bichette and then plunked Alvarez to put two on with one out, but recovered by striking out Benge. The Mets got back one run on a single from Marcus Semien, but Hurt struck out Melendez to finish the sweep and hand New York their eighth consecutive loss.
Game particulars
- Home runs— Hyeseong Kim (1), Teoscar Hernández (4), Dalton Rushing (4), Kyle Tucker (2)
- WP— Shohei Ohtani (2-0): 6 IP, 2 hits, 1 earned run, 2 walks, 10 strikeouts
- LP— Clay Holmes (2-2): 5 IP, 4 hits, 2 earned runs, 1 walk, 4 strikeouts
Up next
The Dodgers are off on Thursday as they fly out to Denver to open a four-game series against the Colorado Rockies on Friday (5:40 p.m. PT, SportsNet LA). Tyler Glasnow makes his fourth start while the Rockies have yet to announce their starter.
