LOS ANGELES — The recipe to overcome what was starting to look like a championship hangover was to add a little spice.
Less than a week ago, the Dodgers were on the hunt for offensive consistency. A 15-2 victory over the Miami Marlins on Tuesday night was the most definitive example yet that the flavor has returned.
Shohei Ohtani’s leadoff home run sure looked like 2024 again. The flashbacks continued with 18 total hits from the lineup, five doubles in that total, and eight walks that were the most telling sign of all. The Dodgers were back to waiting out the bad pitches, driving up pitch counts and hammering the strikes.
Over their current four-game winning streak, they have averaged 9.8 runs per game.
But the similarities to 2024 did not end there. The Dodgers also used a bullpen game for success, just like they did in last year’s postseason run when they used three starters and a pile of relievers to get through the San Diego Padres, New York Mets and New York Yankees for the eighth title in club history.
While they used an opener and mostly one-inning contributions while winning in the playoffs, the Dodgers turned this bullpen game on its ear with two innings from rookie left-hander Jack Dreyer and five from right-hander Matt Sauer (1-0), who was called up Tuesday specifically to take down as many innings as possible. Utility man Kiké Hernandez closed it out with a scoreless ninth inning from the mound.
After the first win of his career, Sauer is expected to be sent down in advance of Tony Gonsolin’s return to the major leagues Wednesday, but the outing is sure to earn him another call in the near future.
Sauer gave up one run on five hits with no walks and four strikeouts. And it was nearly a scoreless outing, with the Marlins only scoring a run against him on the second to last of the 19 batters he faced.
Ohtani’s ninth home run of the season came on the first pitch of the game from Marlins right-hander Sandy Alcantara, who finished by allowing seven runs on seven hits in 2⅔ innings with five walks and two strikeouts.
Alcantara’s outing can serve as a cautionary tale. It was his sixth outing since returning from 2023 Tommy John surgery. He now has an 8.31 ERA.
Gonsolin also will be returning from 2023 Tommy John surgery on Wednesday afternoon.
If the Dodgers can continue to produce on offense, it should be an eventful return for the right-hander.
Teoscar Hernandez had two doubles among his four his with four RBIs and two runs scored. Freddie Freeman also had two doubles with two runs. Will Smith had a double among his two hits with two RBIs, while Tommy Edman drove in three runs, one game after his game-ending two-run single in the 10th inning.
Ohtani’s leadoff home run was his second of the season and the 14th of his career. After a 1-for-16 dry spell, Ohtani is now 7 for 15 over his last four games with six runs scored.
More to come on this story.
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