The Los Angeles Dodgers began their final home series of June with a matchup against the Baltimore Orioles in another battle against an American League East team.
The Dodgers previously swept the Tampa Bay Rays before a day off on Thursday. This marked their third consecutive interleague matchup after they ended their road trip against the Chicago White Sox.
The Dodgers were also without Shohei Ohtani, who is away from the team on paternity leave.
Dodgers 6, Orioles 5: key takeaways
Dodgers rally in ninth after offensive struggles
The Dodgers took a 3-0 lead early in the game, starting with a two-run single from Max Muncy after a walk from Kyle Tucker and double from Mookie Betts. They extended their lead in the second when Alex Freeland singled and scored on a double from Andy Pages.
But after that hot start, the Dodgers’ offense became nearly nonexistent and failed to capitalize on their opportunities.
In the third inning, Betts singled, Muncy walked and Tommy Edman singled to load the bases with no outs. The Dodgers failed to score a run as Ryan Ward, Dalton Rushing and Freeland all struck out.
The Dodgers didn’t get back on the board until the ninth inning when Betts slugged a solo homer. Muncy then worked a walk, and with two outs, Ward also walked, putting the tying run in scoring position.
Then Rushing came through with a single that tied the game, and a throwing error allowed the winning run to score. Up until that at-bat, Rushing was 0-for-4 with three strikeouts.
Before that ninth inning rally for the walk-off win, the Dodgers had struggled on offense through the second through eighth innings. They struck out 13 times total and went 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position while leaving 12 runners on base outside of the first and ninth innings.
Roki Sasaki cruises until sixth
In his last outing, Roki Sasaki posted one of the worst starts of his career, allowing seven runs over 4.1 innings to the Chicago White Sox. With another American League team on his schedule, he tried to get back on track with a matchup against the Orioles.
Things started well for Sasaki. He allowed a single to start the game, but Andy Pages threw the runner out trying to take second, and from there, Sasaki retired the next 13 hitters he faced.
That took him to the fifth inning with two outs before he issued a walk, but then ended the inning with a flyout. Sasaki was through five shutout innings with just one hit allowed.
The sixth inning is where things went sideways. Sasaki allowed a leadoff single before recording the next two outs as it seemed he would end up getting through another scoreless frame.
But he allowed a two-run homer to Gunnar Henderson that cut the Dodgers’ lead to 3-2, and then Pete Alonso went back-to-back to tie the game up, ending Sasaki’s night.
He finished his outing throwing 5.2 innings, allowing three runs on four hits with six strikeouts to one walk.
Jack Dreyer & Will Klein give up runs
Jack Dreyer started the seventh inning after finishing up the sixth for Sasaki, and after recording the first out, he allowed a single to Colton Cowser.
Will Klein then replaced Dreyer and had little success. He gave up a single and walk that loaded the bases, and then allowed a two-run single to Jeremiah Jackson that put the Orioles up 5-3. One run was charged to each of the two relievers.
Kyle Hurt and Blake Treinen each worked a scoreless inning, with the latter picking up the win.
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