Alyssa Maldonado
Game 89, 7/5/2024: Dodgers 8, Brewers 5
Chavez Ravine, CA — Happy Birthday, Shohei Ohtani! The Dodgers celebrate the 30 year old by welcoming Milwaukee after a two-game losing streak as they are still trying to navigate their way through all the injuries on their roster. However, tonight is a special night as the Dodgers, for the first time, got celebrate Japanese native Shohei Ohtani’s 30th birthday. Tonight, the Dodgers turned to Tyler Glasnow to revive this pitching staff after giving up 26 runs in the Arizona series. Along with relying on big bats from veteran Will Smith and the younglings Miguel Vargas and Andy Pages in the well-deserved 8- 5 win.
The Dodgers struck first, thanks to a Will Smith home run in the bottom of the first to right field. This is Smith’s 12th home run of the year. The lineup would then be unable to keep the momentum going as Freddie Freeman followed with a single, but then would go down in the order. It looked like Smith wanted to gift Ohtani with a little support after striking out in his first two at-bats. Smith took a pitch 410 feet to left field this time, putting up the Dodgers 2-0 in the 3rd inning. The batters continued to struggle as they ended the inning with two strikeouts, which included Brewers’ starting pitcher Aaron Civale making Teoscar look silly by having him swing at a pitch way out of the zone.
Glasnow would end the night with 6 innings, allowing only 3 hits and 7 strikeouts. He would allow 5 earned runs as they came from a big 4th inning for the Brewers. Glanow had no hits on the day until the Brewers got their first hit in the 4th inning due to an infield single by Brice Turang. However, Miguel Rojas made it a close play as he caught the difficult ground ball with his bare hand. His off-foot throw did not have a lot of speed behind it as Turang beat out, even with the stretch of Freeman. The Brewers began to pick up speed on offense after Glasnow gave up a walk and an RBI single. After issuing another walk, the Brewers capitalized on the free bases with a grand slam by Rhys Hoskins. There was definite disappointment at Dodger Stadium after letting another opposing team gain the lead off free passes. After a mount visit, Glasnow seemed to settle down, striking out the next two batters, giving him 5 strikeouts on the night.
The response is exactly what the Dodgers needed as Pages started the inning with a singled to left field. Miguel Vargas stepped up to the plate and showed why he belongs on the main roster delivering a speedy line drive home run to left field, closing the deficit to one run. It was not long until fans could see the struggles of the offense unable to move runners over after back-to-back strikeouts from Chris Taylor and the birthday boy, Ohtani.
Smith only added on to his impressive night adding his 3rd homer of the evening, tying the game at 5-5. This makes you wonder how this guy was not in first place in the All-Star voting. The offense showed a glimmer of hope at the bottom of the 8th, with runners in third and second and Smith and his hot bat up to bat. However, the Brewers were smart enough to walk him, but leaving Freeman up to bat. Down to his last strike, the .291 hitter delivered a sharp line drive to center, scoring two runs. It did not stop there as the offense tacked on more runs by Teoscar Hernández hitting it down the left field line for a double, extending the lead to 8-5.
Glasnow would finish his night with a clean 5th and 6th inning, handing the game off to the bullpen. Blake Treinen took over in the 7th, allowing only 1 hit, but that did not matter as he picked off the runner on first to clean it up. Daniel Hudson shut down the Brewers’s offense in the 8th, with a strikeout and support from the defense to shut down the Brewers. Evan Phillips then came into the 9th inning with a three run lead. Phillips dominated having a 1-2-3 inning, handling business on his own with 3 strikeouts.
At the end of the night, the Dodgers win big after having 2 devastating losses against Arizona. Even though Ohtani did not have the best birthday at the plate, his teammates were there to pick him up, especially Will Smith, going 3-4 with 3 home runs. Glasnow was good on the mound; however, the pitching staff continues to fail at limiting runs allowed in a game. Luckily, the bullpen was there to pick up the pieces and seal the win in the last three innings. The Dodgers are back at it again tomorrow against the Brewers at 4:15 at the Ravine.
