Whenever Shohei Ohtani is questioned, it seems, he does something spectacular.
On Tuesday, with discussion still swirling over whether his knee problem from the week before would influence his two-way availability when he took the mound Wednesday, Ohtani broke open a scoreless standoff with a sixth-inning solo home run.
It held as the winning run, as the Dodgers went on to beat the Rays 1-0.
Up to that point, neither team’s starting pitcher had flinched.
Dodgers left-hander Justin Wrobleski had given up just three hits in six scoreless innings. And he hadn’t allowed more than one baserunner in any inning, squashing the scrappy Rays’ ability to manufacture a run.
Though the Dodgers had made more viable scoring threats against Rays starter Drew Rasmussen, they’d come up short for five innings.
They even came within a couple feet of scoring in the second inning, but the Rays pulled off a trick play to throw out Kyle Tucker at home.
With runners on first and third, Alex Freeland laid down a bunt to Rasmussen. When he fielded it cleanly, Tucker shuffled back toward third base. But then Rasmussen turned and fired toward second base, and Tucker took off. Rays shortstop Taylor Ward cut off the throw in front of the base and cut down Tucker as he slid headfirst for the plate.
For the next three innings, the Dodgers (47-27) failed to reach base.
Then Ohtani happened.
Leading off the sixth inning, Ohtani pounced on a cutter that drifted toward the heart of the plate.
He launched it to straightaway center field, where it bounced on the netting beyond the fence.
Rasmussen lasted through the seventh inning, leaving that home run as the only blemish on his outing. Then the two bullpens duked it out to a draw in late innings.
Hours before, Ohtani threw off a mound to test his knee before his scheduled pitching start Wednesday.
“On what my eyes saw, I feel pretty good about it,” manager Dave Roberts said after watching Ohtani play catch.
Roberts will, however, be keeping a close eye on Ohtani, after his bout of knee inflammation late last week. Ohtani theorized over the weekend that problems with his pitching mechanics may have aggravated his knee.
“He wants to be out there, he wants to make his start,” Roberts said. “But the catch play, how he feels, the swelling is completely dissipated. So those signs right there give us confidence that he’s going to be fine.”
Before the game Tuesday, Roberts said he hadn’t yet decided whether Ohtani would also hit Wednesday.
Glasnow hopes to begin throwing soon
In retrospect, it’s clear to right-hander Tyler Glasnow that he tried to start throwing a little too quickly after back spasms pulled him out of his start against the Astros on May 6. But at the time of the injury, Glasnow, who is no stranger to back problems, was encouraged.
“It didn’t feel as bad when I first did it,” Glasnow told The Times on Tuesday.
Nearly a month and a half later, Glasnow has twice tried to restart throwing, and twice he’s had to shut it back down.
“Frustrating, for sure,” Glasnow said. “Just because it happens so frequently. A lot of times I just want to find a way to address the underlying issues of why it happens.”
He has yet to find that long-term solution, but he said he does not expect to have to eventually turn to surgery.
Glasnow, encouraged by his improvement, said he expects to start throwing again “soon.”
“We’re just waiting for it to be fully, fully healed,” he said.
Edman activated
As expected, the Dodgers activated Tommy Edman (right ankle surgery) off the injured list Tuesday and designated utility man Santiago Espinal for assignment.
Edman didn’t make his season debut Tuesday but Roberts said he’ll play a mixture of second base, third and left field, with his playing time dictated by factors such as opposing pitcher matchups and left fielder Teoscar Hernández’s (strained left hamstring) journey back from the IL.
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