'Otani twice, intentional four pitches' and Smith finished, a dramatic come-from-behind victory for two consecutive days...LAD 7-6 BOS
Jul 21, 2024
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The Dodgers won the home game against the Boston Red Sox at Dodger Stadium on the 21st (Korea time) thanks to Will Smith's walk-off hit after a close game in the 11th inning.
After Freddie Freeman's superior grand slam in the bottom of the eighth inning, trailing 0-1 the day before the start of the second half, the Dodgers succeeded in creating an atmosphere to continue their upward trend by winning the game after a fierce battle.
First of all, the Dodgers tied the game with Kiké Hernández's home run in the bottom of the ninth inning, trailing 3-4. Hernandez, who entered as the leadoff hitter, pulled the cutter in the middle of Boston closer Kenley Jansen and hit a solo home run well over the left fence to tie the score 4-4.
The Dodgers continued to have chances for first and second bases with Chris Taylor's double and Ohtani Shohei's intentional four pitches. Smith and Freeman were out on consecutive outfield flies and did not finish the game. In the bottom of the eighth inning, when the Dodgers were trailing 3-4 earlier, Miguel Rojas hit a double play in front of the pitcher while playing a check swing with one out.
The game was close in overtime as well. Boston took a 6-4 lead in the top of the 10th inning when leadoff hitter Tyler O'Neill tapped Dodgers closer Evan Phillips with a two-run homer in left-center.
But the Dodgers didn't back down. The Dodgers, who recovered one point in the bottom of the 10th inning with a double by Andy Parz, a runner on second base with no outs, returned the game to square one 6-6 with Kike Hernandez hitting a heavy hit with two outs and a second base.
In the top of the 11th inning, the Dodgers blocked Blake Trinen's run by striking out the next three batters with runners on the first and second bases with no outs, an in-field fly, and a third baseman fly, respectively. The atmosphere led to Dodgers' attack in the bottom of the 11th inning.
With no outs, second baseman Cavan Biggio made the bunt to first base, advancing Kike Hernandez to third base two weeks later. Taylor then walked and Ohtani intentionally got four pitches, loading the bases with one out. The next batter, Smith, connected a 93-mile sinker in the middle of Boston right-hander Greg Weissert with a left-handed hit to bring home third baseman Hernandez to end the game.
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Ohtani, who played as a designated hitter for the leadoff, was grounded out to first base in the bottom of the first inning. Boston right-hander Bryan Beyo's powerful 86.8-mile slider in the middle of the second pitch headed in front of first baseman Dominic Smith.
He also stepped down as a blunder in his second at-bat after one out in the third inning with a 1-0 lead. On the ball count 1B1S, Beyo's third pitch, 88.5 miles outside low changeup, was picked up by third baseman Rafael Devers in the foul area.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, trailing 1-2, Ohtani's bat finally broke out. Ohtani, who entered as the leadoff hitter, lightly pushed an 87.9-mile slider that Beyo inadvertently threw into the middle of the ball count 2B1S to lead to a double that separated the right-center. It had a batting speed of 112.7 miles.
After Freeman's walk after one out, the Dodgers tied the score at 2-2 when Ohtani homered due to Teoscar Hernandez's right-handed hit. At this time, Freeman ran to third base and Hernandez to second base, taking advantage of the opponent's right fielder's throwing error, and the next batter, Pazs, hit a sacrifice fly to center field to turn the tide 3-2.
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Ohtani took the batter's box for the fourth time in the bottom of the seventh inning with two outs and a runner on first base, but he failed to make a timely hit. At ball count 1B2S, left-hander Cam Boozer hit a 95.6-mile outside fastball on the fourth pitch and retired on a fly to third base. In the bottom of the ninth inning, he got four pitches on purpose.
With this, Ohtani marked a batting average of 0.315 (119 hits in 378 at-bats), 29 home runs, 69 RBIs, 77 runs, 53 walks, 23 steals, an on-base percentage of 0.400, a slugging percentage of 0.632, OPS 1.032, 58 long hits, and 239 hits. He is still the leader in NL scoring, home run, slugging percentage, OPS, slugging, and Ruta.
The Dodgers, which exchanged the first two games of the three opening home games in the second half against Boston, recorded 58 wins and 41 losses.
jhno@sportschosun.com
