James Paxton had another impressive outing, James Outman emerged from a slump and Shohei Ohtani continued his offensive awakening to help power the Los Angeles Dodgers to a win against Minnesota Twins in the series opener at Target Field.
The Dodgers broke a 2-2 tie in the seventh inning thanks to solo home runs from Outman and Ohtani. Outman was the first to homer off of Twins reliever Jay Jackson to give the Dodgers a 3-2 lead. Ohtani then extended the Dodgers’ lead with his home run, one of his three extra-base hits in the game.
Outside of a two-run homer surrendered to Manuel Margot in the third inning, Paxton was very effective in his second start for the Dodgers.
After allowing nine baserunners in his first outing of the season, Paxton only surrendered three hits and one walk in six quality innings that L.A.’s pitching staff desperately needed. In three games against the Chicago Cubs, Dodgers starters only managed to pitch 9.2 innings combined.
James hits it out!
(🎥: @Dodgers) pic.twitter.com/6qz1imf9D6
— Dodger Blue (@DodgerBlue1958) April 9, 2024
Putting on a good Sho for the fans in Minnesota.
(🎥: @Dodgers) pic.twitter.com/heEPBr5yTj
— Dodger Blue (@DodgerBlue1958) April 9, 2024
Victory formation!
Dodgers x @Yaamava pic.twitter.com/O16K6PXUGU
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) April 9, 2024
Meanwhile, the Dodgers got off to a fast start with a walk by Mookie Betts and double from Ohtani set up Freddie Freeman to give the Dodgers a 1-0 lead on a sacrifice fly.
However, the Dodgers’ offense quickly lost steam and stayed quiet until later in the game. Margot gave the Twins a 2-1 lead with his homer in the third inning, but it was the only time they scored in the game.
With Ohtani and Freeman due up, Bailey Ober was pulled from the game in the sixth inning by Twins manager Rocco Baldelli for lefty Steven Okert. The Dodgers managed to tie the game at 2-2 thanks to some bloopers that luckily fell their way, but any further damage was limited by a great defensive play by Byron Buxton.
After the Dodgers took the lead in the seventh, Ryan Brasier, Daniel Hudson and Evan Phillips followed up Paxton’s quality start to close out the rest of the game and secure the 4-2 win.
James Paxton impressing with Dodgers
Paxton has been a very pleasant surprise for the Dodgers’ pitching staff so far. Through two starts, he owns a 1.64 ERA, 1.18 WHIP and has nine strikeouts in 11 innings.
The Dodgers signed Paxton to a one-year, $7 million contract that can go up to $13 million with incentives. He received a $2 million bonus by virtue of being on their Opening Day roster.
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