PHOENIX –– After his customary round of pregame picking drills on Tuesday afternoon, Freddie Freeman took the long way back to the clubhouse, going to the bat rack on the far side of the dugout first to rub his bats a few hours before first pitch.
“Gotta wake them up,” Freeman said jokingly
In a 6-5 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks, the ritual appeared to work.
Freeman opened the scoring in the Dodgers’ victory at Chase Field with a two-run home run in the top of the first. Shohei Ohtani doubled their lead with a two-run triple the following inning. Both superstars contributed to another two-run rally in the seventh.
And on a night the bullpen played with fire, every bit of it was needed as the Dodgers bounced back from Monday’s series-opening loss with a narrow defeat of an intradivision rival.
Despite leading 6-2 entering the bottom of the seventh, the Dodgers’ relievers almost made things messy.
Following a 4 ⅔-innings, two-run start from Eric Lauer, then scoreless appearances from Blake Treinen (who escaped a jam in the fifth with the help of a diving catch by Ryan Ward) and Edgardo Henriquez (whose fastball topped out at 103.6 mph, the second-hardest throw by any pitcher in the big leagues this year), right-hander Kyle Hurt suffered his worst outing of the season, getting charged with three runs in a three-walk dud.
The first two runs scored on a double from Nolan Arenado (which was aided by a bobble from Ward in left). The next came after Will Klein inherited the mess and issued a bases-loaded walk.
Coincidentally or not, the rally started right after a section of Arizona fans went #TarpsOff in the upper deck of right field.
Alas, the Dodgers survived.
The seventh inning ended on a nice defensive play from Freeman, who ranged far to his right to spear a grounder on his backhand and throw to second for the third out.
Arizona put two more aboard against Klein in the eighth before Arenado grounded into an inning-ending double play.
The ninth inning provided another scare, with Tanner Scott letting a runner reach second before finally closing out the win.
But in the end, it was the Dodgers’ bats that made the difference.
Just as Freeman hoped, they woke up just enough.
What it means
The Dodgers are now 15-4 since May 13. And of the many impressive traits in that run, their ability to shake off rare defeats continues to stand out.
The team has not lost back-to-back contests since a four-game skid from May 9-12.
Such resiliency has helped the Dodgers (39-22) build a six-game lead in the National League West standings. They are now 6 ½ games clear of the recently resurgent Dbacks (32-28)..
Who’s hot
Freeman and Ohtani, who have both looked more and more like their typical selves offensively over the last several weeks.
Ever since an early May slump that dropped his batting average to .233 and OPS to .767, Ohtani has been the best hitter in the Dodgers’ lineup, entering Tuesday with a .415 average and 1.229 OPS over his last 18 games.
That continued with a 2-for-4 performance that also included an intentional walk in the two-run seventh inning, extending Ohtani’s on-base streak to 18 games.
For Freeman, who was 3-for-5 on Tuesday, it’s been almost exactly the same story.
He endured a mid-May skid that lowered his average to .254 and OPS to .737, but has turned around and hit .348 over 13 games since May 19, a stretch that includes five home runs and 12 RBIs.
His only game not reaching base over that span: Monday night, leading to his pregame ritual Tuesday.
Who’s not
Not to keep beating a dead horse, but still Kyle Tucker.
The $240 million outfielder went hitless in three at-bats Tuesday before drawing a seventh-inning walk, extending a recent 3-for-26 slump over his last seven games.
“I wouldn’t say disappointed,” manager Dave Roberts said pregame of Tucker’s underwhelming campaign thus far, which includes a .235 average and .715 OPS. “I would say I’m probably just hoping that there’s some traction for him and for our sake. He’s working hard. There’s a day where it looks like he’s back and feeling comfortable. Then a couple days where you look at him and it looks like he’s searching again. For me, you just hope he can find something that sticks.”
More than two months into the season, it hasn’t happened yet.
Up next
Ohtani (5-2, 0.82 EA) will return to two-way duties on Wednesday when he faces off against former All-Star right-hander Zac Gallen (3-4, 5.16 ERA).
