The Dodgers left Coors Field with another win, another series wrapped up, and another big night from Shohei Ohtani. Los Angeles beat the Rockies 7-6 on Tuesday to follow up its 11-run performance in the opener and keep rolling in Denver.
Ohtani supplied the headline swing, launching his 30th home run of the season. That gives him three straight seasons with the Dodgers reaching the 30-homer mark, and he joined a short list of franchise heavyweights in the process: Gil Hodges, Duke Snider, Mike Piazza, Eric Karros, Raul Mondesi and Gary Sheffield.
The offense didn’t stop there. Freddie Freeman drove in two runs, and Ohtani added two RBIs of his own.
Max Muncy, Kyle Tucker and Teoscar Hernández also drove in runs, with Tucker and Hernández each breaking out of their respective slumps enough to contribute three combined hits between them. Freeman, Tommy Edman and Hernández all finished with two hits, and Edman and Hernández each doubled twice.
It was another strong showing from a lineup that has had to fight through a rough stretch since the start of June. Even with the caveat that Coors Field can make just about any offense look dangerous, the last two nights were a welcome sign for a group that has also had its share of struggles against pitching it should handle better.
On the mound, Eric Lauer gave the Dodgers what they needed without dominating. The left-hander worked five innings and allowed four runs on six hits, with one walk and six strikeouts. It wasn’t a quality start, but in Colorado, just keeping the game under control and leaving with the lead still matters plenty.
From there, the bullpen had to finish the job. Jack Dreyer and Edgardo Henriquez each put up a scoreless inning.
Evan Phillips came on for the eighth and gave up a run on two hits and a walk while getting two outs, continuing his push to rediscover his old form after returning from Tommy John surgery. Tanner Scott entered with two outs and two on in the eighth and got the final out to strand both runners, then stayed on for the ninth and locked down the four-out save despite allowing a run on a double and a single.
The win put the Dodgers back at .500 since the All-Star break at 15-15, and it also gave them their 26th series victory of the season, moving them to 26-12-3. Against the Rockies specifically, the dominance has been relentless: Los Angeles is 40-11 since the start of the 2023 season, including 19-8 at Coors Field. The Dodgers have now won eight of their last nine against Colorado, are 9-3 against the Rockies this year, and have taken the season series for nine straight campaigns, from 2018 through 2026.
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Tarik Skubals Next Deal May End One Tigers Dream
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For the Dodgers, that puts them in position to chase a pitcher with ace-level stuff and rare leverage, even as Skubal has left open the idea of a return to the Detroit Tigers. Still, unless Detroit can somehow come close to his asking price, that possibility looks remote, which means one of the games most intriguing pitching pursuits may come down to a bidding fight the Tigers were never built to win. [Read more 🡒]