Shohei Ohtani on Wednesday night allowed just four hits over seven shutout innings as the Los Angeles Dodgers backed the four-time Most Valuable Player with his most run support of the season in a 4-0 victory over the San Francisco Giants.
The Dodgers snapped their season-high skid at four games on a night when Ohtani only pitched and was not in the lineup as the designated hitter for the fourth time this season.
Ohtani (3-2) struck out eight and walked two in his second consecutive seven-inning start — his first as a Dodger and first since May 2023 with the Los Angeles Angels. He lowered his ERA to 0.82 pitching with a picture of his beloved dog Decoy on the tongue of his right cleat.
Photo: AP
The Dodgers have scored more than four runs in Ohtani’s seven starts just once and the team is 3-4 in his starts overall. They had six hits or less in five of their previous seven games.
In Arlington, Texas, Danny Jansen had a game-ending single with two outs as the Texas Rangers rallied for a 6-5 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks in a frantic ninth inning that included three-run rallies by both teams.
After the game, Jansen joked that he did not really want to have to catch another inning in what had already been an active game behind the plate.
“I feel like the game had everything. Like passed balls, a couple of wild pitches, I mean, stolen bases, threw somebody out,” said Jansen, who also blocked a few pitches with runners on base. “A bit of everything, it was kind of a wild one... Definitely a crazy finish.”
The Rangers had just tied the game and chased Paul Sewald (0-4), who had converted his first nine save chances, when No. 9 batter Jansen grounded a RBI single down the line into the left-field corner on the only pitch thrown by Juan Morillo.
That came after a frustrating top of the ninth for the Rangers, when Jacob Latz — their main closer since halfway through a stretch of 10 consecutive scoreless outings — failed to retire any of the four batters he faced.
Elsewhere, the Baltimore Orioles dominated the New York Yankees 7-0, the San Diego Padres beat the Milwaukee Brewers 3-1, the Toronto Blue Jays survived the Tampa Bay Rays 5-3 in 10 innings, the New York Mets edged the Detroit Tigers 3-2 in 10 innings, the Washington Nationals outlasted the Cincinnati Reds 8-7 in 10 innings, the Cleveland Guardians took down the Angels 4-2 and the Atlanta Braves defeated the Chicago Cubs 4-1 for the 30th win of the season.
The Colorado Rockies sank the Pittsburgh Pirates 10-4, the Boston Red Sox overcame the Philadelphia Phillies 3-1, the Chicago White Sox beat the Kansas City Royals 6-5, the Miami Marlins stunned the Minnesota Twins 9-5, the Houston Astros outplayed the Seattle Mariners 4-3 in 10 innings and the Athletics downed the St Louis Cardinals 6-4.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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