Jack Flaherty had 10 strikeouts in his debut at Dodger Stadium, Shohei Ohtani’s two-run homer highlighted a five-run third inning and Los Angeles beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 9-5 on Friday night.
It was a needed win for the Dodgers, who lead the NL West after San Diego and Arizona also won. The Dodgers’ lead over the Padres is 2 1/2 games, their smallest in months.
“We’re very conscious of that,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. “It puts a responsibility on us to play good baseball.”
Flaherty (9-5) earned the win in his first home game since joining the Dodgers from Detroit before the trade deadline last month. The native of nearby Burbank first visited the stadium when he was 6 months old and his mother took him to a game.
“It’s been a lot of fun,” Flaherty said. “It’s special. I’m just enjoying every second of it.”
Flaherty was applauded when he left the game with two outs in the sixth inning with the Dodgers leading 9-4. The right-hander allowed four runs and nine hits in 5 2/3 innings and threw 110 pitches, the most of the season and his team.
“Jack was good, just a solid performance,” Roberts said. “One thing I’ve learned about Jack so far is that no situation, no moment is going to be too big for him. He has the ability to make throws when he needs to, and that’s great.”
Ohtani’s 448-foot hit to center scored Andy Pages, who drew a walk against Mitch Keller (10-6). Will Smith added a two-run single and Miguel Rojas had a two-out RBI single that extended the lead to 6-0.
For the Japanese superstar, it was the eleventh home run over 440 feet this season, the most by a Dodgers player in the Statcast era, which began in 2015. Ohtani leads the NL with 35 home runs and is only behind Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees (41) in baseball.
“When he’s in the strike zone, he does things with the baseball that nobody else can do. He just keeps surprising people,” Roberts said of Ohtani. “I played with Barry Bonds and the ball just didn’t come off as well as it did off Shohei’s bat.”
Teoscar Hernández’s RBI single with two outs in the fourth inning made it 7-1. Kiké Hernández hit a two-run shot on Keller’s eleventh pitch with two outs in the fifth inning. His line drive went off the glove of left fielder Bryan Reynolds.
“In Jack’s first home game, you just want to get him as many runs as possible,” said Freddie Freeman.
Freeman hit a two-out home run in the first inning for the Dodgers. Freeman returned to the team on Monday after missing eight games to be with his sick three-year-old son. He also hit a double, walked a base and stole a base.
“I didn’t know how I would do without seeing the pitch live,” Freeman said. “I actually saw the ball pretty well.”
Pittsburgh’s Oneil Cruz hit a solo home run to open the fourth inning. Joey Bart hit a three-run shot with two outs in the fifth inning to cut the Pirates’ deficit to 7-4.
Domingo Germán returned to the major leagues a year after behavioral issues left him with the New York Yankees. The Pirates acquired his contract from Triple-A Indianapolis.
Germán replaced starter Mitch Keller in the fifth inning against the Dodgers. He allowed two runs and one hit in four innings, while allowing three strikeouts and two walks.
TRAINING ROOM
Dodgers: RHP Walker Buehler (hip) could rejoin the team next Thursday during their series in Milwaukee.
Next
Pirates: RHP Paul Skenes (6-1, 1.99 ERA) starts on Saturday.
Dodgers: RHP River Ryan (1-0, 1.72) pitched 4 2/3 innings with two runs against Oakland last week.
