The Los Angeles Dodgers completed a magical and much-needed comeback with a 6-5 walk-off win over the Colorado Rockies, powered by two ninth inning home runs from Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts.
Entering the ninth trailing by one run, Shohei Ohtani blasted his 53rd home run of the season to tie the game, setting Dodger Stadium into a frenzy. Mookie Betts then followed with a walk-off home run to give the Dodgers the win, providing them with arguably their biggest victory of the season.
While the Rockies had nothing to play for, it was a pivotal matchup for the Dodgers. Manager Dave Roberts said his club is in a playoff mindset and focused on beating the Rockies with the San Diego Padres close behind in the National League West.
“Absolutely,” Roberts said. “We have seven games left, and I do think that we’ve had that since the third game in Atlanta. I think we’ve played with more edge, more intent. I want that to continue.”
Although they were down early, the Dodgers battled back. They scored their first run in the fourth inning on a home run from Teoscar Hernández that made it a 4-1 game. In the seventh, now trailing 5-1, they rallied to make it close.
Miguel Rojas walked and Kiké Hernández blasted a two-run homer to make it a 5-3 game. Ohtani then singled and stole his 55th base of the season before Freddie Freeman singled him home to make it a one-run game, setting up their rally in the ninth to win it.
On the pitching side, the Dodgers were hoping to get a great start from Yoshinobu Yamamoto with Roberts looking for the right-hander to throw roughly six innings or about 90 pitches.
“Like I said, he’s pitched in big ballgames, but for him to get into the sixth inning and potentially get through it, get the pitch count up to 90 with another start after that,” Roberts said. “I think there’s more stress in the postseason. So you’ve got to really get that foundation to prepare for the stress of every postseason pitch.”
Yamamoto certainly dealt with the stress of pitching as he went just three innings while throwing 79 pitches, including a 35-pitch first inning.
After retiring the first batter of the game, the next five batters reached against Yamamoto with three singles and two walks. The Rockies loaded the bases twice and ultimately scored three runs in the first.
In the third inning, Yamamoto allowed a double to Brendan Rodgers and an RBI single to Nolan Jones, giving the Rockies a 4-0 lead.
They added on another in the sixth inning against Ben Casparius when Jake Cave walked and Hunter Goodman drove him home with a double.
Dodgers pitchers struck out a season-high 17 hitters with Yamamoto, Joe Kelly, Ryan Brasier, Casparius and Blake Treinen all contributing. Brasier and Treinen both struck out the side in their lone inning of work.
Dodgers face Padres to potentially decide NL West race
With the win, the Dodgers kept their three-game lead over the Padres in the division race. After an off day on Monday, the two clubs will face off for a three-game series at Dodger Stadium.
The Padres hold the tiebreaker over the Dodgers, so they are in control of their own destiny. That series will likely end up deciding the NL West.
However, the Dodgers have one benefit as they close out their season against the Rockies in Coors Field while the Arizona Diamondbacks host the Padres, potentially fighting for their playoff hopes as well.
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