Ohtani 'growing As Hitter' Sans Pitching Workload
CHICAGO -- — Shohei Ohtani hit a leadoff homer and a tiebreaking RBI single, helping the Los Angeles Dodgers top the Chicago White Sox 4-3 on Tuesday night.
Led by Ohtani and Freddie Freeman, the Dodgers won for the seventh time in nine games. The NL West leaders are 50-31 at the midpoint of their schedule.
Ohtani drove a hanging curveball from Chris Flexen into the visitor’s bullpen in right-center for his NL-best 24th homer. White Sox right fielder Tommy Pham tried to make a leaping grab on the play, but was unable to bring it in.
Ohtani also walked and scored on Freeman’s two-run homer in the third inning. He batted again in the fourth and gave Los Angeles a 4-3 lead with a two-out RBI single.
“It wasn't an easy pitch to hit, but my mindset was getting a base hit,” Ohtani said through an interpreter.
Ohtani has driven in at least one run in his last nine games, matching a franchise record. The two-time AL MVP is batting .306 (26 for 85) with 10 homers and 22 RBI in 22 games this month.
“I don't know what more we can really say about him,” Freeman said. “I think we've said everything we can since he entered this league, about what an amazing player he is. ... Sometimes you just got to step back and just appreciate a player like this.”
Andrew Benintendi hit a two-run homer for Chicago, which lost for the sixth time in seven games. Pham walked three times from the leadoff spot, and Gavin Sheets had two hits.
Flexen (2-7) permitted four runs and six hits in 5 2/3 innings. The right-hander is winless in his last nine starts.
“I thought I battled pretty decent but obviously it didn’t put us in position to win," he said. "Handful of walks, a couple home runs. Early lead, so pretty disappointed about it. Tough battle.”
At 21-60, the White Sox are off to the worst 81-game start in franchise history. The previous record was 27-54 in 1934 and 1948. They dropped to 6-15 in one-run games.
“It’s been tough. It might look a lot uglier than it actually is,” Benintendi said. “We’ve played a lot of one-run ballgames. We’ve put together one, two good weeks. But we’ve got 81 games left, just keep trucking, keep working on things, keep getting better.”
Benintendi hit his sixth homer and Eloy Jiménez added an RBI double as Chicago scored three times in the first against Bobby Miller. But it managed just five hits for the rest of the game.
Miller, a suburban Chicago native, lasted just two innings in his second start since returning from shoulder inflammation. Michael Petersen (2-0) got six outs for the win, and Evan Phillips handled the ninth for his 13th save in 13 chances.
“The shoulder feels great. My body feels great,” Miller said. “I think it's just sometimes trying a little bit too hard out there, doing a little bit too much.”
Dodgers outfielder Teoscar Hernández rejoined the team after he missed Monday's 3-0 victory in the series opener to fly home to the Dominican Republic for a personal reason. But manager Dave Roberts gave Hernández another day off.
TRAINER'S ROOM
White Sox: Manager Pedro Grifol said the team is monitoring Benintendi in his comeback from left Achilles tendinitis. “We’ll manage that with maybe some matchups that are good for us as a team and at the same time gives him an opportunity to rest that Achilles and kind of regroup,” Grifol said. ... RHP Mike Clevinger (elbow inflammation) pitched 4 2/3 innings in his second rehab start for Triple-A Charlotte on Sunday, but the team hasn't confirmed a date for his next outing just yet.
UP NEXT
Right-handers Gavin Stone (8-2, 3.04 ERA) and Erick Fedde (5-2, 3.05 ERA) pitch on Wednesday night in the series finale. Stone is 7-1 with a 2.18 ERA in his last 10 starts for Los Angeles. Fedde is 1-1 with a 2.88 ERA in four June starts for Chicago.
------
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
Bread Street Kitchen Interior Image4 Bread Street Kitchen Large Bread Street Kitchen O Bread Street Kitchen Restaurants Bread Street 007 ?width=300&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=21a6433a9055a9dc9543d258efa8ed2121ca7aeba04ab39bdd55730f55f0e02a Bread Street Kitchen 8 93hHnvZomRj0jU7dCNOLVTaWLau96uSiFfRgeziQEIJ7y4XDdCSxLheTl3f68MFfR2V1e8vd6EKv6PiMpWhcVxQ 67xg8ZqnUg50Zui5iUaexzldagGo5p8Y1RI1W8iuYIHptPRDzMIYXF7i53SvVO0L Bread St Dining Bread Street Kitchen Restaurant 10 ?w=900&h=600&fit=cropB6711c34693a32e779cc86c80106296b Bread Street Kitchen P8021021.JPG26062297 DdnynJq2Xz Dinb Mw3ZdbffAPWJxjsWm UTTRmAv1M CroppedFocusedImage121578650 63 BSK Interior 080615 5 Low 46535430 9XYP6 TWpGL2enIEURaCQJPokqKz8ByYH7nad Pvbo8 CroppedFocusedImage63060050 50 BSK Interior With Window 800px 12655338 CroppedFocusedImage63060050 50 Vb1864322 GRBSKSouthPlaceAugust202113 1 Copy 46492095 Cf5yQZYR3e XIJF4CwXoP9jMdbgkv76ZJgTOb1u9c4g Bread Street Kitchen2016 Web Interior ?w=928&h=522&fit=cropBread Street Kitchen Restaurant ReviewBreadstreet Kitchen Porterhouse Arabske Emiraty Dubaj Bread Street Kitchen 1600x1040 ?v=2568497 JgeSbDpQGAt2E7Ubl6NqFgEPfKj9sjzqAOLvu3tVseo Bread Street Kitchen Gin Masterclass 700x500 Bsk Beef Wellington 1920x1080 Img 4391 ?w=1620Photo0jpg Bread Street Kitchen 3 768x452 Photo2jpg Bread Street Kitchen EOTHO Main Min 1
Ohtani 'growing As Hitter' Sans Pitching Workload
CHICAGO -- — Shohei Ohtani hit a leadoff homer and a tiebreaking RBI single, helping the Los Angeles Dodgers top the Chicago White Sox 4-3 on Tuesday night.
Led by Ohtani and Freddie Freeman, the Dodgers won for the seventh time in nine games. The NL West leaders are 50-31 at the midpoint of their schedule.
Ohtani drove a hanging curveball from Chris Flexen into the visitor’s bullpen in right-center for his NL-best 24th homer. White Sox right fielder Tommy Pham tried to make a leaping grab on the play, but was unable to bring it in.
Ohtani also walked and scored on Freeman’s two-run homer in the third inning. He batted again in the fourth and gave Los Angeles a 4-3 lead with a two-out RBI single.
“It wasn't an easy pitch to hit, but my mindset was getting a base hit,” Ohtani said through an interpreter.
Ohtani has driven in at least one run in his last nine games, matching a franchise record. The two-time AL MVP is batting .306 (26 for 85) with 10 homers and 22 RBI in 22 games this month.
“I don't know what more we can really say about him,” Freeman said. “I think we've said everything we can since he entered this league, about what an amazing player he is. ... Sometimes you just got to step back and just appreciate a player like this.”
Andrew Benintendi hit a two-run homer for Chicago, which lost for the sixth time in seven games. Pham walked three times from the leadoff spot, and Gavin Sheets had two hits.
Flexen (2-7) permitted four runs and six hits in 5 2/3 innings. The right-hander is winless in his last nine starts.
“I thought I battled pretty decent but obviously it didn’t put us in position to win," he said. "Handful of walks, a couple home runs. Early lead, so pretty disappointed about it. Tough battle.”
At 21-60, the White Sox are off to the worst 81-game start in franchise history. The previous record was 27-54 in 1934 and 1948. They dropped to 6-15 in one-run games.
“It’s been tough. It might look a lot uglier than it actually is,” Benintendi said. “We’ve played a lot of one-run ballgames. We’ve put together one, two good weeks. But we’ve got 81 games left, just keep trucking, keep working on things, keep getting better.”
Benintendi hit his sixth homer and Eloy Jiménez added an RBI double as Chicago scored three times in the first against Bobby Miller. But it managed just five hits for the rest of the game.
Miller, a suburban Chicago native, lasted just two innings in his second start since returning from shoulder inflammation. Michael Petersen (2-0) got six outs for the win, and Evan Phillips handled the ninth for his 13th save in 13 chances.
“The shoulder feels great. My body feels great,” Miller said. “I think it's just sometimes trying a little bit too hard out there, doing a little bit too much.”
Dodgers outfielder Teoscar Hernández rejoined the team after he missed Monday's 3-0 victory in the series opener to fly home to the Dominican Republic for a personal reason. But manager Dave Roberts gave Hernández another day off.
TRAINER'S ROOM
White Sox: Manager Pedro Grifol said the team is monitoring Benintendi in his comeback from left Achilles tendinitis. “We’ll manage that with maybe some matchups that are good for us as a team and at the same time gives him an opportunity to rest that Achilles and kind of regroup,” Grifol said. ... RHP Mike Clevinger (elbow inflammation) pitched 4 2/3 innings in his second rehab start for Triple-A Charlotte on Sunday, but the team hasn't confirmed a date for his next outing just yet.
UP NEXT
Right-handers Gavin Stone (8-2, 3.04 ERA) and Erick Fedde (5-2, 3.05 ERA) pitch on Wednesday night in the series finale. Stone is 7-1 with a 2.18 ERA in his last 10 starts for Los Angeles. Fedde is 1-1 with a 2.88 ERA in four June starts for Chicago.
------
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
