Dave Roberts was speaking about the possibility of Shohei Ohtani hitting two homers to reach 300 for his career, while not mentioning he has a bigger milestone in his own sights.
Roberts will look to record his 1,000th regular-season victory as a manager when his Los Angeles Dodgers visit the Athletics on Tuesday night at West Sacramento, Calif.
The Dodgers posted a 9-4 win in the opener of the three-game series to give Roberts win No. 999 since becoming the club’s manager in 2016.
“I’d like to get it out of the way (Tuesday),” Roberts said after Monday’s triumph. “Quite the accomplishment. Pretty excited.”
Roberts is 999-605 with the Dodgers. He has an additional setback on the career ledger from serving as interim manager of the San Diego Padres for one game in 2015.
Among active managers, Terry Francona of the Cincinnati Reds has 2,072 wins, good for 11th place all-time.
Ohtani, 31, clubbed career homer No. 298 on Monday, a three-run blast in the sixth inning that traveled 432 feet to right.
Roberts wasn’t surprised that Ohtani hammered the pitch from Athletics left-hander Matt Krook. The homer was Ohtani’s eighth in June and 18th of the season.
“You could see he was sizing up that slider,” Roberts said. “He left it up, and (Shohei) put a really big swing on it. Shohei has been on a heater. The last six weeks he’s been the best player in baseball.”
Eight Dodgers had two hits each as Los Angeles piled up a season-high 17 for the fifth time this season. Andy Pages added a two-run homer and Max Muncy hit a solo shot as the Dodgers won for the sixth time in the past seven games.
Meanwhile, Joshua Kuroda-Grauer had three hits and an RBI in his major league debut for the Athletics, who have lost three straight games and seven of their last nine.
“He’s prepared for this moment his whole life, and to go out there and throw out three hits in his debut is pretty special,” Athletics manager Mark Kotsay said of Kuroda-Grauer.
Kuroda-Grauer, 23, was recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas on Monday afternoon as one of the reinforcements when shortstop Jacob Wilson (right thumb) and left fielder Tyler Soderstrom (left hip) were placed on the 10-day injured list. That leaves the A’s without four starters, as designated hitter Brent Rooker (left knee) and infielder Zack Gelof (right hand) were previously on the IL.
Kuroda-Grauer was in Salt Lake City when he got the news, and his flight landed in Sacramento just a couple of hours before first pitch.
“Probably the most adrenaline I felt in my life,” Kuroda-Grauer told reporters of his first at-bat. “I’m kinda glad I got the call on such short notice because if they would have told me last night, I wouldn’t have slept a lick.”
A’s left-hander Jeffrey Springs (3-7, 5.52 ERA) is looking to halt a 13-start winless stretch. He has dropped seven games during the span and has served up 22 homers after giving up none during his first four starts, when he went 3-0.
The 33-year-old Springs received a no-decision against the San Francisco Giants last Thursday when he allowed three runs and three hits over 5 1/3 innings. The A’s won 9-6.
Springs is 1-0 with a 1.00 ERA in two career appearances (one start) against the Dodgers.
The Dodgers will turn to left-hander Justin Wrobleski (9-2, 2.71 ERA), who has won back-to-back starts and is 3-0 over his last five turns. Wrobleski, 25, beat the Minnesota Twins last Tuesday when he gave up two runs and five hits over seven innings of a 12-3 victory.
Wrobleski picked up a relief victory over the A’s last season when he gave up one hit over four shutout innings in 19-2 triumph on May 15.
–Field Level Media
