The Los Angeles Dodgers evened up their series against the Colorado Rockies with a 4-1 win, setting up a rubber match in the series finale on Sunday.
The Rockies got on the board first, which came in the second inning after Brendan Rodgers doubled, advanced to third on a groundout, and scored on a sacrifice fly.
But their lead was short-lived as Teoscar Hernández singled in the second inning, and came around to score when their defense fell apart. Gavin Lux grounded out softly to first base, but Elehuris Montero threw the ball into left field trying to turn the double play and Sean Bouchard threw the ball to the Dodgers’ dugout trying to get Hernández at third base.
Andy Pages followed that with a single, and he scored when Jason Heyward doubled, giving the Dodgers a 2-1 lead.
In the fourth inning, the Dodgers added on again, this time with two outs. Pages hit his second single to start them off, Heyward worked a walk, and Kiké Hernández drove home the run with an RBI single.
Pages finished the game with three hits and two runs scored in four at-bats.
Freddie Freeman tripled with one out in the fifth inning, and he scored on an RBI-double from Will Smith, giving the Dodgers a 4-1 lead.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto turned in another strong start. After giving up the run in the second, he gave the Dodgers four consecutive scoreless innings despite dealing with some traffic in a few innings.
Yamamoto pitched six innings, giving up the lone run on seven hits with seven strikeouts and one walk. He also reached a season-high in pitches, throwing 101 in the game.
It was also his first start allowing fewer than two runs since May 1, exactly one month ago.
Following Yamamoto, Daniel Hudson pitched the seventh and Blake Treinen had the eighth. Both worked a scoreless inning.
Evan Phillips was called on for the ninth in his first appearance since being activated off the injured list and recorded the save with a scoreless frame of his own.
Shohei Ohtani joins Ichiro in MLB history
Ohtani stole his 100th career stolen base, making him the second Japanese-born player, along with Ichiro Suzuki, with 100 home runs and 100 stolen bases in MLB history.
Earlier this season, Ohtani passed Hideki Matsui for the most homers by a Japanese-born player in MLB, and he passed Dave Roberts for the most by a Japanese player in Dodgers’ history.
Make sure to follow Dodger Blue on Instagram! It’s the best way to see exclusive coverage from games and events, get your questions answered, and more!
