Los Angeles Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani (center) congratulates his teammates after the Dodgers defeated the Baltimore Orioles 6-3 in a baseball game, Aug. 29, 2024, in Los Angeles.
17:37 JST, August 30, 2024
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Bobby Miller surrendered two hits in five strong innings and the Los Angeles Dodgers survived an 0-for-5 outing by Shohei Ohtani to beat the Baltimore Orioles 6-3 on Thursday night, winning two of three games in an interleague matchup between two of baseball’s best teams.
All Dodgers except Ohtani had a hit, with the team collecting 14 hits and winning for the eighth time in 10 games.
The Japanese superstar flied out four times and was retired on a third strike one night after hitting his 42nd home run and stealing his 41st and 42nd bases.
The Dodgers went 7-2 in their nine-game homestand against Seattle, Tampa Bay and Baltimore, extended their NL West lead to four games after Arizona and San Diego lost and became the first team in baseball to win 80 games.
“We’ve done well against teams that are in the pennant races,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “Guys understand that this is the time to commit and they’re doing it.”
Miller (2-3) allowed three runs, struck out three and walked three to earn his first win since March 29. He has been nursing an injured left knee but said he “doesn’t have to worry about that.”
Evan Phillips pitched the ninth inning and earned his 17th save.
The Dodgers scored four runs on five hits in the fourth inning to extend their lead to 5-0.
Chris Taylor singled and Gavin Lux had a ground-rule double to lead off the inning before both scored on Austin Barnes’ RBI double in his first game back from the injured list. Barnes scored on Mookie Betts’ single. Burch Smith came up and gave up an RBI single to Miguel Rojas.
It’s a tough lineup to pitch against, a tough team to hit out of, Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said. “There was some soft contact there, which led to a couple of runs, but I thought we did a good job out of the bullpen. We just didn’t have enough offense tonight.”
The Orioles made it 5-3 in the fifth inning on Colton Cowser’s three-run shot, only their second hit of the game. Cowser is the 10th rookie in team history to hit 20 homers in a season. They finished with four hits.
Just one bad pitch. Unfortunately, it’s over the fence, Miller said. “I wouldn’t have faced him if I hadn’t let the guy walk earlier.”
Baltimore loaded the bases in the seventh inning from reliever Daniel Hudson. After two quick outs, he gave up a single to Jackson Holliday and back-to-back walks to Cowser and Adley Rutschman. Blake Treinen came in and got All-Star Gunnar Henderson on a swinging strikeout.
This was a big home game for us, playing against three really good teams, Treinen said. “It shows a lot about ourselves.”
The Dodgers loaded the bases in the eighth inning and Tommy Edman’s sacrifice fly with two outs extended their lead to 6-3.
Orioles starter Cade Povich (1-7) allowed five runs and 10 hits, a personal best, while striking out three and walking one.
