For the first 5 ½ innings on Tuesday night, there was a whole lot of nothing at Dodger Stadium.
Then, Shohei Ohtani came to the plate in the bottom of the sixth and put a long-awaited jolt into the game.
On a first-pitch, center-cut cutter from Tampa Bay right-hander Drew Rasmussen, Ohtani sent a no-doubt home run sailing deep to center field, opening the scoring in the Dodgers’ eventual 1-0, series-clinching win.
“Old-school baseball game, 1-0,” manager Dave Roberts said. “Really fun baseball game to be part of.”
The blast was Ohtani’s 15th home run of the season, his seventh in the last 17 games, and his fifth in the last nine.
It was the latest sign that he is rediscovering his power stroke, after a stretch of 39 games from April 13 to May 26 in which he hit only three long balls.
“He’s seeing the baseball well, swinging at good pitches,” Roberts said. “And when he uses the big part of the field, there’s just no one better.”
More importantly, it also gave the Dodgers some much-needed run support on a night Justin Wrobleski turned in a scoreless six-inning start.
Up to that point, Wrobleski and Rasmussen had been dueling, keeping either team from even sniffing an opening run.
After Ohtani’s home run, the rest of the night flew by similarly, with the Dodgers bullpen producing three scoreless innings in a second-straight game –– one each from Will Klein, Kyle Hurt and Tanner Scott, who combined to face the minimum nine batters –– to sew up a shutout that took just 1 hour, 52 minutes, the Dodgers’ quickest nine-inning game since 1992.
“Under two hours is pretty cool, especially when we’ve got a noon game tomorrow,” Wrobleski said. “That’s good for the boys.”
What it means
The Dodgers (47-27) don’t have the best winning percentage in the majors. But after the Atlanta Braves had their game Tuesday postponed by rain, the club does now own the title of winningest team in MLB, surpassing the Braves’ win total with their 47th victory.
Tuesday also secured the Dodgers a series win over the Rays (41-29), improving their home record this season to 24-12.
Who’s hot
Coming off a hamstring contusion last week and pitching on “just” four days of rest (making him only the second Dodgers pitcher to do so this year), Wrobleski had a short leash, getting pulled after just 67 pitches.
But, the left-hander made his six innings on the mound count, delivering his fifth scoreless start of at least that length this season to outshine Rasmussen in Tuesday’s pitchers’ duel.
It was a prototypical Wrobleski start, keyed by efficiency, soft contact and little need for much swing-and-miss.
Wrobleski held the Rays to only three hits while striking out five batters (three of which came against his first four hitters of the game). He let only one baserunner even reach second. He retired nine of the last 10 he faced.
He is now 8-2 on the season with a 2.72 ERA, continuing to build his case for an unexpected All-Star selection.
“That’s kind of what drives me, is just being the best version of myself and see where that falls,” Wrobleski said of potentially reaching the Midsummer Classic. “It’d be super cool but not (focusing) on it too much. I just want to come in there and contribute each time out.”
Who’s not
Anyone worrying about Ohtani’s left knee injury.
On the eve of his next scheduled pitching start on Wednesday, Ohtani threw a bullpen session before Tuesday’s game in what was a final check of his knee after he dealt with swelling coming out of his last trip to the mound last week.
After the game, Roberts confirmed that Ohtani will be good to go for Wednesday’s start, though noted the two-way star will not DH in the game, as well.
Still, it’s another encouraging sign that his knee injury will not be a long-term issue.
Clearly, it’s not affecting him at the plate.
Up next
The Dodgers will go for a three-game sweep of the Rays on Wednesday afternoon, with Ohtani (6-2, 1.06 ERA) set to face Tampa Bay left-hander Shane McClanahan (6-4, 3.23 ERA).
