Shohei Ohtani had his worst pitching outing of the season and took a line drive off his right leg to boot in the Dodgers’ 8-3 loss to the Rockies on Wednesday night at Coors Field.
Ohtani gave up two runs in the second inning on three hits, the key hit a well-placed Brenton Doyle double down the left field line that scored the first run and set up the second. In the fourth inning Ohtani was hit harder, in more ways than one. Five straight hits opened the inning, with more sloppy play coming in the outfield,
including a bad throw by Michael Conforto that was clanked by shortstop Miguel Rojas, and Andy Pages making an ill-advised throw to third base that is reaching epidemic proportions in this series for the Dodgers. Weirdly enough, the Dodgers did get an out of of that errant throw, which was very much needed by Ohtani.
The fifth hit in the inning off Ohtani was the most painful, a 92.5-mph line drive by Orlando Arcia directly off Ohtani’s right leg. Ohtani recovered the ball in four territory after the ricochet.
After some conferring on the mound with manager Dave Roberts and a team trainer, Ohtani stayed in to finish the frame, and got the final two outs. The Rockies scored three runs in the inning to push their lead to 5-0.
In his four innings, Ohtani allowed five runs and nine hits, both season highs. He allowed five runs in his first eight starts combined, over 19 innings. But he’s allowed nine runs in 9 1/3 innings in his last two outings.
Ohtani batted once more after taking the line drive off his leg, and walked in the fifth inning. He was removed for pinch-hitter Alex Call in the eighth inning with a five-run deficit in the eighth inning. Ohtani was already expected to get a rare day off on Thursday, and probably needs it even more after this one.
Ohtani at the plate led off the game with a double and later walked, but Rockies starter Tanner Gordon allowed only three hits the rest of the way in his six innings. Gordon, who entered Wednesday with an 8.30 career ERA in 16 starts, did not allow a run until Teoscar Hernández hit a solo home run in the sixth inning.
Notes
- Paul Gervase, who was called up from Triple-A earlier Wednesday, allowed one run in two innings in relief in his Dodgers debut. At 6’10, he’s the tallest Dodger ever, surpassing former NBA player and left-handed pitcher Mark Hendrickson at 6’9.
- Gervase is the 39th Dodgers pitcher this season, tied with the Diamondbacks for second-most in the majors, four behind the Mets. The Dodgers are one shy of their franchise record of 40 pitchers used, set last season.
- The Dodgers have not lost a series to a National League West team this season, winning eight plus splitting a four-game series in Arizona. They’ll need a win on Thursday to salvage a split against the team with the worst record in the majors.
Wednesday particulars
Home run: Teoscar Hernández (21)
WP — Tanner Gordon (4-5): 6 IP, 4 hits, 1 run, 1 walk, 3 strikeouts
LP — Shohei Ohtani (0-1): 4 IP, 9 hits, 5 runs, 3 strikeouts
Up next
The Dodgers and Rockies finish things up under the sun on Thursday getaway day (12:10 p.m. PT, SportsNet LA), with Clayton Kershaw starting for the road team against rookie Chase Dollander.
