Shohei Ohtani pitched into the third inning for the first time this season and the Los Angeles Dodgers snapped their losing streak with a 2-1 win over the San Francisco Giants.
Ohtani’s fifth start as a pitcher represented another step forward in his buildup as he set season highs with three innings, four strikeouts and 36 pitches.
The Giants managed just two baserunners against Ohtani, one via walk and another on a single. He exited the game as a pitcher with the Dodgers clinging to a 1-0 lead.
That was thanks in part to a throwing error on Willy Adames after making a diving stop on Andy Pages’ infield single. Adames’ off-target flip to second base allowed Michael Conforto to take third, and he wound up scoring on Tommy Edman’s groundout.
The Dodgers squandered opportunities to add onto their lead before breaking through against Giants starter Landen Roupp in the sixth inning.
Conforto improved to 3-for-3 on the day with a two-out single, and Andy Pages’ walk kept the inning alive for Hyeseong Kim, who delivered an RBI single. However, Kim was thrown out on his ill-advised attempt to stretch it to a double.
Emmet Sheehan followed Ohtani and pitched 4.1 innings to help complete the Dodgers’ win. Sheehan managed to extend his streak to 15 hitless innings in three career appearances (two starts) against the Giants. The stretch began when Sheehan pitched six no-hit innings against the Giants in his MLB debut.
The Giants’ first hit off Sheehan was Patrick Bailey’s single with one out in the eighth inning. That wound up leading to a bases-loaded jam as a walk and single followed.
Alex Vesia held Rafael Devers to a sacrifice fly en route to recording the final two outs of the inning. Tanner Scott entered in the ninth and converted his 19th save of the season.
Dodgers maintaining NL West lead
Despite just being mired in their longest losing streak since the 2017 season, the Dodgers have remained in first place of the National League West heading into the All-Star break.
At worst, they will be four games in front of the Giants when the unofficial second half of 2025 begins next week. Though, the Dodgers’ lead in the NL West could be as big as six games if they take the rubber match at Oracle Park on Sunday.
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