LOS ANGELES — It’s always tough to get started on that first day back at work after vacation, right?
The Dodgers were held to two hits while striking out nine times in the first seven scoreless innings on Friday night. But a ground-rule double by Shohei Ohtani sparked an eighth-inning rally and Freddie Freeman hit a grand slam to beat the Boston Red Sox, 4-1, in the first game back from the All-Star break.
The win was just their second in eight games after staggering into the break with six losses in their last seven games.
“No matter where we are in the standings or how we’ve been playing, it’s always good to get wins, but especially after the first seven innings,” Freeman said. “I think the crowd was waiting for something to happen.”
They waited through six lifeless innings against Red Sox right-hander Nick Pivetta.
Will Smith had a first-inning single and Teoscar Hernandez doubled off the wall in left-center field with one out in the fourth. Add a leadoff walk by Miguel Vargas in the third and that was the extent of the Dodgers’ damage against Pivetta. None of the three baserunners advanced beyond second base.
Pivetta struck out eight in his six innings including Ohtani three times. He got him to chase a high fastball up out of the zone twice and a cutter at the top of the zone the third time. It was only the second time this season Ohtani has struck out three times in a game.
Not that the Red Sox’s offense was much more potent. They had more opportunities but wasted them by going 0 for 11 with runners in scoring position, including 0 for 8 against Dodgers starter Gavin Stone.
Stone gave up six hits in his five-plus innings, escaping damage from all but one. All-Star Game MVP Jarren Duran got a changeup that stayed up over the plate in the fifth inning and slugged it over the wall in center field for a solo home run.
Three more fruitless RISP at-bats for the Red Sox came in the seventh inning against Dodgers reliever Alex Vesia.
Dominic Smith led off with a fly ball to the warning track in left-center field. Center fielder Andy Pages called for it but Vargas kept coming from left field, jumping and reaching up for the ball before it could get to Pages’ glove. Vargas couldn’t make the catch and the ball fell for a double.
But Vesia struck out the side after that, stranding Smith at second.
“I didn’t hear him, it was too loud,” Vargas said of the misplay. “I have to respect his priority too (as the center fielder) so I take the whole responsibility for that.”
In the eighth inning, Vargas had a defensive highlight to offset his gaffe and spark some life into the Dodgers. Shortstop Miguel Rojas deked Tyler O’Neill and O’Neill was slow to get back to first base on a routine fly ball to shallow left field. Vargas unleashed a terrific throw to double him off first base.
“That was a weird play. You don’t see a lot of assists from the outfield like that,” Vargas said. “I saw him jogging back slow so I said ‘Maybe I got him.’”
That was spectacular, but Vargas’ biggest contribution of the night might have been his eight-pitch at-bat against Red Sox reliever Zack Kelly to draw a walk leading off the eighth inning.
After Chris Taylor was called out on strikes, Red Sox manager Alex Cora brought in lefty reliever Brennan Bernardino to face the top of the Dodgers’ lineup. Ohtani sliced his first pitch down the left field. It bounced into the stands for a ground-rule double.
With runners on second and third, Cora opted to intentionally walk Smith and bring the left-handed Freeman up with the bases loaded against the left-handed Bernardino.
“From the other dugout, it’s a no-win situation. Pick your poison. That’s a tough one,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “It started because of Vargy getting on base and Shohei’s double right there, which kind of put the onus on the manager, AC, to make a decision.”
Loading the bases for Freeman is not a good choice. He is 5 for 9 with the bases loaded this season, 19 for 37 in his two-plus seasons with the Dodgers including four grand slams now.
“That’s an opportunity to drive in runs, that’s all I care about,” Freeman said.
“I just like to be able to have the opportunity to drive in runs, so you can walk all the people you want. That’s part of the game. It’s strategy, sinker-baller, can throw the sinker in, I could roll it over and hit into a DP. It’s the right move. But sometimes it doesn’t work.”
This was one of those times. After fouling off a first-pitch sinker, Freeman got a curveball down and in and lined it into the stands down the right-field line for the game-winning slam.
“One moment in time, one at-bat, I’ll take Freddie against anyone in any big spot regardless of handedness,” Roberts said. “Will’s done it time and time again. So potentially setting up the double-play ball. They had the right-hander behind Bernardino. So I get it, and it was good to be on the good side of that.”
Freddie Freeman with the grand slam!! Dodgers lead 4-1!
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: https://t.co/i0HWddfBus pic.twitter.com/VOeo7mSEJO— SportsNet LA (@SportsNetLA) July 20, 2024
Freddie Freeman speaks on his game winning grand slam and the #Dodgers win.
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: https://t.co/i0HWddfBus pic.twitter.com/Ukek52XWIa— SportsNet LA (@SportsNetLA) July 20, 2024
Dave Roberts talks about the 8th inning rally and the #Dodgers pitching tonight.
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: https://t.co/i0HWddfBus pic.twitter.com/tkWKG9GnhE— SportsNet LA (@SportsNetLA) July 20, 2024
Gavin Stone discusses how he felt tonight and what worked well for him.
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: https://t.co/i0HWddg9k0 pic.twitter.com/Egjy4tV5Vh— SportsNet LA (@SportsNetLA) July 20, 2024
Miguel Vargas speaks on his performance and his miscommunication with Andy Pages.
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: https://t.co/i0HWddfBus pic.twitter.com/zptezrShXj— SportsNet LA (@SportsNetLA) July 20, 2024
