LOS ANGELES, CA — The brooms were out Wednesday afternoon at Uniqlo Field at Dodger Stadium as the Dodgers completed a three-game sweep of an elite Tampa Bay Rays club. All three games of the series were decided by one run in dramatic fashion—4-3 on Monday, 1-0 Tuesday, and 5-4 Wednesday.
Dodgers right-handed starter Shohei Ohtani, pitching well until the top of the fifth inning, got the win and is now 7-2 with an ERA of 1.47. After a fifth-inning leadoff walk to Victor Mesa Jr., Havana, Cuba, and a double to Hunter Feduccia, Ohtani was met with a run-scoring sacrifice fly and then four singles, resulting in four runs that gave Tampa Bay a 4-2 lead.
It was the second outing in a row where he gave up four runs, and the seven hits he surrendered were the most for Ohtani on the year.
Despite allowing seven hits and four runs on Wednesday, Shohei Ohtani picked uImage Credit: Francisco Rodriguez/Latino Sports
In the fourth inning, with two outs, the Dodgers scored two runs on three walks and two hits. That was it for Tampa Bay’s starter, Shane McClanahan, as he was removed after 3.2 innings, allowing two runs on three hits and five walks. With three strikeouts, he totaled out to 83 pitches with 41 coming for strikes.
Ohtani had that one bad inning, but came back in the sixth to retire the side in order—leaving with six innings pitched, four runs, seven hits, one walk, and five strikeouts. He threw 91 pitches, 63 for strikes.
With one out in the bottom of the sixth inning, the Dodgers would regain the lead when Andy Pages, Havana, Cuba, doubled, and was followed by a Freddie Freeman 407-foot home run to dead center field, putting the Dodgers ahead 5-4.
The 50,705 fans then had to hold their breaths as Alex Vesia worked himself into a jam in the bottom of the ninth inning when he walked the bases loaded and then finally struck out Taylor Walls on a 3-2 count to end the game.
With the win, Los Angeles (48-27) remains nine games up on the Padres in the NL West, while these three losses by the Rays (41-30), coupled with a Yankees win tonight in the Bronx vs. the White Sox, could see Tampa Bay four games behind New York in the AL East.
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