The Los Angeles Dodgers fell themselves trailing late in the game against the Detroit Tigers, but managed to pull through with a 4-3 win to avoid a five-game losing stream.
Trailing in the eighth, the Dodgers tied the game with three singles from Will Smith, Freddie Freeman and the RBI-hit from Teoscar Hernández, making the score 3-3.
In the ninth, Chris Taylor and pinch-hitter Austin Barnes started the rally with a pair of one-out singles. Gavin Lux popped up to put all the pressure on Shohei Ohtani.
But that proved to be no big deal for the All-Star designated hitters as he crushed a ground-rule double to put the Dodgers up by one.
Daniel Hudson ended up pitching the final inning to record the save, despite walking two hitters and running into some trouble.
Prior to the Dodgers’ comeback, Tarik Skubal was as advertised for the Tigers. The American League Cy Young Award-favorite threw six innings, giving up just two runs on two hits with eight strikeouts and one walk.
Skubal had a no-hitter going until Freddie Freeman broke that, and the shutout, with a solo home run. That was followed by Skubal’s first and only walk, which went to Hernández.
After Miguel Rojas moved Hernández to second, Andy Pages singled him home to make it a one-run game. The fourth inning proved to be the only inning the Dodgers found success against Skubal, who now has a 2.41 ERA in 116 innings this season.
On the other side, James Paxton was once again mediocre, but he did not receive much help from his defense, either.
The Tigers got on the board in the first inning when Riley Greene hit a two-run double after a single and walk with one out. In the next inning, they added on, which was started by a one-out walk.
The run came around to score on what ended up being an RBI-triple, but a questionable misplay from Andy Pages fueled that. Pages could have potentially made the catch near the warning track, but slowed down before the ball dropped into play.
After Paxton, the Dodgers’ bullpen managed to shut the Tigers down, with scoreless outings from Yohan Ramírez, Evan Phillips, Blake Treinen, Michael Petersen and Hudson.
Dodgers don’t have room for error
The Dodgers are still missing several key contributors due to injury, which has forced them to use depth players and rookies in prominent roles.
Manager Dave Roberts believes it has almost reached the point where the Dodgers have to play perfect baseball just to win a game. Entering Friday, the Dodgers were 22-22 over their last 44 games.
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