A pair of comeback victories followed by a six home-run game have the Los Angeles Dodgers riding some momentum heading into Monday’s opener of a four-game series at home against the rival San Francisco Giants.
Shohei Ohtani crushed a 473-foot blast among a season-high collection of home runs Sunday as the Dodgers finished off a three-game sweep of the Boston Red Sox with a 9-6 victory. The win came after Los Angeles went 1-6 before the All-Star break.
“Everybody was like kind of semi-impressed,” Ohtani said through an interpreter of the reaction in the dugout following his long home run.
In addition to Ohtani’s homer, Freddie Freeman and Teoscar Hernandez went deep Sunday. But those power bats have shown consistency most of the season. The Dodgers also received home runs from Austin Barnes, Gavin Lux and Jason Heyward.
Barnes hit his first of the season, while Lux is off to a fast start after the break following a rough first half. Heyward went yard in his return from the injured list.
“It’s nice and it makes pitching a lot easier when you get runs like that,” Barnes said. “You get six home runs in a game, you better win that game.”
Los Angeles did win, but Sunday’s game left some concerns.
Closer Evan Phillips entered the ninth with a six-run cushion but was pulled after allowing the tying run to step to the plate with one out. And back in the fourth inning, shortstop Miguel Rojas left the game with a forearm strain.
On Monday, the Dodgers are expected to send right-hander River Ryan to the mound for his major league debut.
Ryan, 25, has a 2.22 ERA in eight minor league starts this season. He will be called on to help bridge the gap before Tyler Glasnow returns from the injured list Wednesday and Clayton Kershaw makes his season debut Thursday.
The Giants enter after losing two of three on the road to the Colorado Rockies over the weekend. Jorge Soler hit a 478-foot home run and Tyler Fitzgerald delivered a 434-foot blast in Sunday’s 3-2 win to help San Francisco avoid a sweep.
The Giants are expected to deploy left-hander Blake Snell (0-3, 6.31) on Monday. Snell has made two starts in July after returning from a left groin strain and has not given up a run in a combined 12 innings of a pair of no-decisions.
On July 14 against the Minnesota Twins, Snell was perfect through six innings before giving up a single to lead off the seventh.
“That’s what you get when you get a Blake Snell that’s healthy, especially towards the second half of the season,” San Francisco manager Bob Melvin said. “That’s when he’s really, really good.”
Said Snell: “This year was weird. … There’s a lot there that made it a slow start, but I feel good. I’m just going to continue getting better.”
Snell is 2-2 lifetime against Los Angeles with a 2.59 ERA in 13 regular-season starts.
His most notable outing against the Dodgers came with the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 6 of the 2020 World Series.
Snell was pulled with a 1-0 lead despite striking out nine over 5 1/3 scoreless innings. Los Angeles promptly rallied to win the game and the title.
–Field Level Media
