The final result paled in comparison to the night’s first swing.
Shohei Ohtani’s ailing knee, it turns out, is still feeling plenty alright.
Ohtani didn’t make his scheduled pitching start on Friday in the Dodgers’ 9-3 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks, getting scratched from the mound before the game with what the team described as “continued irritation in his left knee.”
Nevertheless, that didn’t stop the two-way star from serving as the club’s designated hitter –– or, three pitches into his first at-bat, taking All-Star left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez deep the other way for a resounding, and reassuring, leadoff home run.
Ohtani’s knee problem, of course, is no small thing.
After plaguing him for a month, he is set to have it drained on Sunday and will likely get a pain-relieving injection after that.
The treatment plan will keep him from attending the All-Star Game. It also forced the Dodgers into a bullpen game on Friday that came with disappointing results.
Still, manager Dave Roberts insisted Ohtani’s status was no big concern either.
If this were October, Roberts said, Ohtani would’ve been pitching.
And even for the middle of July, he felt good enough to keep taking at-bats.
The leadoff homer only underscored such optimism, with Ohtani somehow getting to a fastball off the inside corner and launching it to the opposite field for a 381-foot drive to left.
It was Ohtani’s 21st home run of the season, his third in the last four games, and his 10th since his knee first began giving him problems back on June 10.
Even in a losing effort, it was a sigh of supreme relief.
What it means
The Dodgers did miss Ohtani’s arm on Friday, dropping the opening game of this first-half-finale series thanks to choppy performances from most of their relief staff.
It started with opener Kyle Hurt, who gave up two runs in the first on three singles and a walk. The Dbacks mounted three more two-run rallies in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings, as well, in which Will Klein, Brock Stewart and Edgardo Henriquez combined to give up only two hits but walk four batters.
The Dodgers’ defense certainly didn’t help (more on that later), but the pitching performances were plenty bad on their own.
The low points: When Stewart gave up a two-run homer to No. 9 hitter Tim Tawa in the fourth, breaking a 2-2 tie; and when Edgardo Henriquez entered in the fifth with a runner on second, and immediately brought him home by balking and throwing a wild pitch.
Who’s hot
Rodriguez eventually settled down after his shaky start for Arizona, completing a six-inning, two-run, five-strikeout start.
But not before Andy Pages followed Ohtani in the first inning with a home run of his own.
The blast was one of three hits Pages recorded on Friday, in addition to singles in the third and sixth innings. That marked the All-Star outfielder’s ninth three-hit game this season, but only the second time it had happened since May 6.
The 3-for-4 performance pushed his batting average back up to .269 and his OPS to .807.
Who’s not
For most of the year, the Dodgers’ defense has been a strength.
This week, it looks like they’re already thinking ahead to next week’s All-Star break.
On Friday, the team committed three errors: A bad throw from right fielder Kyle Tucker in the first inning, sending the ball skipping into the dugout to score a run; another bad throw in the fifth from catcher Dalton Rushing, who fired too low to second base to put a Diamondbacks’ rally in motion; and yet another misfire from third baseman Tommy Edman in the sixth while trying to field a bunt.
In all, they accounted for three unearned runs of the eight Dodgers pitchers allowed.
More concerning is that, over the last three games, the club has now committed six errors overall –– including a couple that contributed to another loss on Tuesday.
Even with those recent struggles, the Dodgers still lead the majors in fielding percentage and fewest errors recorded on the season.
But, it has been a source of frustration of late for Roberts, who looked dismayed in the dugout Friday as his squad kicked the ball around the yard.
Up next
The Dodgers will go from a bullpen game to their staff ace on Saturday, sending Yoshinobu Yamamoto (9-5, 2.49 ERA) to the mound for the final time before the All-Star break against Arizona right-hander Brandon Pfaadt (2-1, 4.84 ERA).
