Shohei Ohtani steals highlight from his canine with homer, two steals in Dodgers' victory

Wednesday evening wasn’t the primary time Shohei Ohtani has stolen the present.

It was, nevertheless, the primary time he needed to snatch the highlight away from his canine.

On a day followers started lining up outdoors the Dodger Stadium gates at 8 within the morning, staking out a spot in line to get a bobblehead with Ohtani holding his canine, Dekopin (aka Decoy), in his arms, each proprietor and pet placed on a spectacle within the Dodgers’ 6-4 win over the Baltimore Orioles.

Dekopin acquired the evening’s first huge ovation, delivering the ceremonial first “pitch” by choosing up a ball in his mouth and operating to house plate — the place Ohtani was crouched down like a catcher ready.

From there, although, it was Ohtani who guided the Dodgers by way of a back-and-forth sport with a fellow World Sequence contender in Baltimore, going two for 4 with a house run (his forty second of the season), two steals (giving him 42 on the season) and three runs scored.

Ohtani opened the scoring with a leadoff house run within the first, gathering his first huge fly since final Friday’s 40-40 clinching grand slam on a line drive to proper.

He was in the course of the motion in a four-run third inning, lining an opposite-field single three at-bats earlier than Teoscar Hernández launched a go-ahead three-run homer.

Learn extra: Watch Shohei Ohtani’s dog, Decoy, throw out first pitch at Dodger Stadium

Then within the fifth, Ohtani virtually single-handedly gave the Dodgers some insurance coverage. After belting a line drive that Ryan O’Hearn didn’t catch at first, Ohtani went from first to 3rd on a stolen base and wild pitch and finally scored on a two-out error, doubling what on the time was solely a one-run lead.

After beginning August with a two-week hunch (Ohtani batted simply .181, albeit with seven homers, from Aug. 2-19), the Nationwide League MVP favourite is ending the month on a tear.

Wednesday was his fifth multi-hit sport within the final seven. It was his tenth sport of the 12 months with a minimum of one house run and one steal. And, earlier than putting out in his closing journey to the plate within the seventh, he was serenaded with “MVP!” chants from a sold-out crowd of 53,290 that — greater than traditional — was there for him.

And his canine.

There have been some nervy moments early on for the Dodgers.

After Ohtani’s leadoff blast, the Orioles struck for 3 runs in a second-inning rally fueled by poor protection. With one out, Max Muncy misfired on a throw to first. A batter later, Cedric Mullins reached on a third-strike wild pitch.

As an alternative of the inning being over, Ramón Urías laced a two-run double and James McCann added an RBI single.

Like so many different occasions this 12 months, it appeared beginning pitching Walker Buehler was about to go off the rails.

This time, nevertheless, the right-hander settled down, discovered some rhythm and accomplished maybe his finest begin of the season.

With higher first-pitch effectivity (13 for 23 on first-pitch strikes) and two-strike execution (he solely gave up one hit and one stroll in such a depend), Buehler gave up just one different run in 4⅔ innings Wednesday — and even that was the results of extra dangerous luck, approaching an RBI double from O’Hearn a batter after Buehler didn’t get an obvious strike name on a full-count verify swing.

Buehler nonetheless has an unsightly 5.88 ERA this season, his first since present process a second profession Tommy John surgical procedure in 2022. He has solely managed to work previous the fifth inning in three of 11 begins, a far cry from the All-Star type he as soon as displayed because the ace of the Dodgers rotation.

However over 90 pitches Wednesday, through which he struck out 4 and received a season-best 12 whiffs, he a minimum of confirmed some semblance of promise, serving to put the Dodgers (who additionally received 4⅓ scoreless inning from the bullpen) in place to capitalize on Ohtani’s huge evening.

Damage updates

— Tyler Glasnow will resume his throwing program Friday, after having a beforehand scheduled session of catch play this week scratched. Supervisor Dave Roberts mentioned Glasnow, who went on the injured listing Aug. 16 with elbow tendinitis, didn’t really feel nice after initially beginning his throwing program final week.

The Dodgers are hoping this time round goes higher for the 31-year-old right-hander. Roberts acknowledged this week that any additional delays in Glasnow’s restoration would possibly hamper his skill to get totally constructed up in time for the playoffs.

— Yoshinobu Yamamoto started his minor league rehab task with triple-A Oklahoma Metropolis on Wednesday, giving up one run in two innings whereas putting out two batters and sitting 94-95 mph together with his fastball.

— Jack Flaherty got here in feeling OK after taking a comebacker off his proper throwing wrist Tuesday. Flaherty’s subsequent begin shall be Sunday or Monday — relying on if the Dodgers determine to make use of a spot starter on Sunday in Arizona (triple-A pitcher Justin Wrobleski may very well be an choice to pitch that day).

— Andy Pages will most likely be the place participant call-up when rosters broaden in September, Roberts mentioned.

— Austin Barnes (toe fracture) is anticipated to be activated Thursday. Brusdar Graterol (hamstring pressure) may also be going out on a rehab task quickly, Roberts mentioned.

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This story initially appeared in Los Angeles Times.