Dodgers 7, Rays 3: Shohei Ohtani joins the 40/40 club with a walk-off grand slam

Chad Moriyama 08/23/2024 Game Recaps Leave A Comment

The off day appeared to have cooled off the Dodgers a bit, as the offense started slow and a pair of early homers for the Rays staked them to a lead. However, the Dodgers came back behind one Enrique Hernandez blow, the bullpen shut things down, and that set up a big 9th inning rally with the most dramatic way for Shohei Ohtani to reach the 40/40 club: a walk-off grand slam.

What a game.

Oh, the 7-3 victory makes it five straight.

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Bobby Miller started the game with a couple of easy outs, but then rookie Junior Caminero stepped up and smashed his first MLB homer for an early 1-0 lead.

Miller worked around trouble in the 2nd with three strikeouts, but a two-out double by Caminero was followed with a two-run homer for Christopher Morel to make it 3-0 in a flash.

Despite a flurry of deep flyballs that were cause for concern, Miller did show signs of progress. He settled down and faced the minimum over the final three innings of his outing, seeing a single erased by a Will Smith throw, and emphatically struck out the last four batters he faced.

He did enough, really: 6 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 0 BB, 9 K, 96 Pitches.

Meanwhile, Tyler Alexander cooled off the lineup, facing the minimum through three thanks to a pickoff and double play. The first RISP came on an Ohtani infield single and then his 40th stolen base in the 4th, but the Dodgers couldn’t take advantage.

Fortunately, it was the bottom of the order who came through again in what’s becoming something of a trend. Tommy Edman started the 5th with a bloop single and Gavin Lux drew a walk with one down to put a pair on, which brought up Enrique and his new eyesight to smash a three-run game-tying homer that knocked Alexander out of the game. 3-3.

First out of the pen for the Dodgers was Ryan Brasier in the 7th, who has been great since returning from injury, getting a clean frame on just six pitches. Evan Phillips was next up in the 8th, who had to work around a one-out double, but managed the scoreless frame. And then it was Michael Kopech in the 9th, who gave up just an error on himself that was erased by Will, which was bookended by a pair of strikeouts.

Thing is, the offense didn’t do much after they tied it. The 6th and 7th saw two-out singles, and then the 8th was clean, but they had a walk-off chance in the 9th thanks to the pen.

Things started well behind Will leaning into one on an 0-2 count, Edman singling to put the winning run in RISP, and Miguel Rojas got a bunt down to move both over. After Lux hit his third hard-hit out of the night, the game was extended when Will didn’t go home for some reason to at least try to force a play. Maybe he was just trying to set the stage, as a Max Muncy walk led to the bases loaded, which brought up … Ohtani for his 40/40 moment.

The replays. All the replays.

A grand ol’ celebration.

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NL WESTRECORD
Dodgers77-52
Diamondbacks73-56 (4 GB)
Padres73-57 (4.5 GB)

*Currently playing.

The two teams will do it again tomorrow an hour earlier at 3:10 PM HT/6:10 PM PT/9:10 PM ET. It’ll be Clayton Kershaw looking to continue his effectiveness after injury against Taj Bradley.

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