Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers and catcher Korey Lee of the Chicago White Sox watch Ohtani’s RBI single against starting pitcher Chris Flexen during the fourth inning of a baseball game on Tuesday, June 25, 2024, in Chicago.
14:14 JST, June 26, 2024
CHICAGO (AP) — Shohei Ohtani hit a leadoff homer and a tiebreaking RBI single to put the Los Angeles Dodgers over the Chicago White Sox 4-3 on Tuesday night.
Led by Ohtani and Freddie Freeman, the Dodgers won their seventh in nine games, and the NL West leaders are 50-31 at the midpoint of their schedule.
June 25, 2024; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers dedicated hitter Shohei Ohtani (17) rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run against the Chicago White Sox during the first inning at Guaranteed Rate Field.
Ohtani hit a hanging curveball from Chris Flexen into the visitor’s right-center bullpen for his NL-best 24th home run. White Sox right fielder Tommy Pham tried to make a leaping grab on the play, but was unable to land it.
Ohtani also walked and scored on Freeman’s two-run homer in the third inning. He hit again in the fourth to give Los Angeles a 4-3 lead with an RBI single with two outs.
“It wasn’t an easy pitch to hit, but my mentality was to get a base hit,” Ohtani said through an interpreter.
Ohtani has recorded at least one point in his last nine games, tying a franchise record. The two-time AL MVP is hitting .306 (26 for 85) with 10 home runs and 22 RBIs in 22 games this month.
“I don’t know what else we can say about him,” Freeman said. “I think we’ve said everything we can since he came into this league about what a great player he is. … Sometimes you just have to step back and appreciate a player like that.”
Andrew Benintendi hit a two-run homer for Chicago, which lost for the sixth time in seven games. Pham made three runs from the leadoff position and Gavin Sheets had two hits.
Flexen (2-7) allowed four runs and six hits in 5 2/3 innings. The right-hander is winless in his last nine starts.
“I thought I fought pretty well, but it obviously didn’t put us in a position to win,” he said. “Handful of walks, a few home runs. Early lead, so quite disappointed with it. Tough battle.”
At 21-60, the White Sox are off to the worst 81-game start in franchise history. The previous record was 27-54 in 1934 and 1948. They have fallen to 6-15 in one-run games.
“It was heavy. It may look a lot uglier than it actually is,” Benintendi said. “We played a lot of one-run ball games. We have had one or two good weeks. But we still have 81 games to go, just keep going, keep working on things, keep getting better.”
Benintendi hit his sixth homer and Eloy Jiménez added an RBI double as Chicago scored three runs in the first against Bobby Miller. But it only scored five goals for the rest of the game.
Miller, a native of suburban Chicago, lasted just two innings in his second start since returning from shoulder inflammation. Michael Petersen (2-0) got six outs for the win, and Evan Phillips made the ninth for his 13th save in 13 chances.
“The shoulder feels great. My body feels great,” Miller said. “I think sometimes it’s just trying a little too hard, doing a little too much.”
Dodgers outfielder Teoscar Hernández rejoined the team after missing Monday’s 3–0 win in the series opener and flying to the Dominican Republic for a personal reason. But manager Dave Roberts gave Hernández another day off.
