I went to the Thursday 5/18 Reds @ Dodgers game, the only one of the series in which the Dodgers lost to the Reds. Sure, SoSG AC and I got our bobbleheads, which was fortunate as they ran out of them an hour before game time! But it was not fun to watch a lineup ending with Kike Hernandez, Gavin Lux, Chris Taylor, James Outman, and Austin Barnes go a collective 2-for-17 with 7 Ks, basically ceding two-thirds of the nine innings with offensive ineptitude. We didn't stick around to see the Reds tack on the final three runs in the 7-2 loss (nor did we see the Dodgers' only two runs in the bottom of the ninth), but we did leave with bobbleheads in hand.
But Shohei Ohtani was just lying in wait, apparently. Ohtani had a two-run HR in the Friday 7-3 victory, on the evening after the city of Los Angeles declared the day Shohei Ohtani Day. Not a bad Friday!
And then Ohtani capped the weekend off in dramatic fashion, hitting the walkoff single in the tenth inning to give the Dodgers the 3-2 victory and win the series:
"The fans stayed, and Shohei delivered," said Dodger commentator Eric Karros. And Karros was right--the Dodgers set the tenth up well, after Jason Heyward got robbed with a deplorable strike three call in the bottom of the ninth (so Heyward started the tenth as the ghostrunner on second), and then Will Smith subbed out the light-hitting Austin Barnes to earn a walk. Ohtani came up with two out in the bottom of the tenth, and took his 1-2 pitch into right field to win the game.
Dodgers pitching also deserves a lot of credit, notching 11 Ks, including four on Elly De La Cruz alone. The beat goes on, with Arizona coming into town for three starting tomorrow.
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