Sports

/

ArcaMax

Shohei Ohtani hits two homers as Dodgers sweep the Braves

Mike DiGiovanna, Los Angeles Times on

Published in Baseball

LOS ANGELES — Dave Roberts seemed a little conflicted before Sunday's series finale against the Atlanta Braves in Dodger Stadium.

The manager didn't want to put too much emphasis on an early-May series against a potential playoff opponent, saying, "I just want to win as many games as we can," but as he sized up a "great" trip in which the Dodgers won seven of nine games and a homestand that began with two wins over the Braves, he changed his tune.

"It's time to get greedy," Roberts said, "so yeah, we're trying to sweep them."

The gluttonous Dodgers did just that, riding a strong start by left-hander James Paxton, a pair of two-run home runs by Shohei Ohtani and Teoscar Hernández and another solo blast by Ohtani to a 5-1 victory to complete a three-game sweep of the Braves before a sold-out crowd of 52,733.

Ohtani put an exclamation mark on the sweep by demolishing a first-pitch fastball from reliever A.J. Minter in the eighth inning, sending a 464-foot homer to center field — his longest of the season — for his team-leading 10th homer and a 5-1 lead.

Paxton gave up one earned run and five hits in 6⅔ innings, striking out three and walking two, the latter number a significant improvement for a veteran who had walked 22 batters — eight of them in an April 14 game against San Diego — in 25⅔ innings of his first five starts.

 

The Dodgers won their 11th game in 13 tries, a stretch in which their starters have given up 17 earned runs in 75⅓ innings for a 2.03 ERA.

Dodgers reliever Joe Kelly got the final out of the seventh, striking out Adam Duvall, and right-hander Blake Treinen, making his 2024 debut after missing most of the 2022 and 2023 seasons because of shoulder injuries, retired the side in order with one strikeout in the eighth.

With closer Evan Phillips placed on the 15-day injured list because of a right-hamstring strain before the game, right-hander Michael Grove retired the side in order in the ninth to complete the brisk 2-hour, 7-minute game.

The Dodgers had only five hits, four of them by Ohtani, who followed a Mookie Betts walk in the first inning by driving an up-and-in curveball from Braves left-hander Max Fried 412 feet over the center-field wall for a two-run homer.

...continued

swipe to next page

©2024 Los Angeles Times. Visit at latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Comments

blog comments powered by Disqus