Clayton Kershaw and Dodgers defeat Orioles to end

BALTIMORE — The day began with a couple of Shohei Ohtani home runs. It continued with a strong 5 ⅔ inning start from Clayton Kershaw. And it ended with the Dodgers in a celebratory postgame line, trading victorious high-fives close to the mound.

After 5 consecutive losses, a number of weeks of mounting frustration, and the most painful collapse possible the evening before, the Dodgers took a essential first step toward righting their sinking ship on Sunday.

They beat the Baltimore Orioles 5-2, finally discovering a method to maintain on to a late-game lead.

They ended an in any other case disastrous highway journey on a sorely needed high be aware, avoiding what would have been a second-consecutive collection sweep to a last-place opponent.

“It’s not a surprise how we responded,” supervisor Dave Roberts said. “There was no panic. There was just preparation. I like the way that our guys weren’t downtrodden. We were up, looking forward to playing a ball game, to win a game. And that’s a tell that we have confidence still in the room. It speaks to the character.”

Indeed, Sunday was the type of day the Dodgers (79-64) have been desperately looking out for amid their latest struggles, which reached a new low when their no-hitter turned walk-off nightmare on Saturday trimmed their division lead down to just one sport.

That sport, in which Yoshinobu Yamamoto had a no-hitter damaged up with two outs in the ninth before the Orioles (66-77) rallied for a gorgeous walk-off win, was the type of loss that threatened to throw the Dodgers into an all-out nose-dive; an unthinkable defeat that, on top of their beforehand mounting frustrations, turned Sunday into yet another gut-check for the long-slumping membership (which entered Sunday 10 video games under .500 since July 4).

“It was a tough loss yesterday,” shortstop Mookie Betts said. “Especially what Yoshi did, everybody was so excited and happy for him. And to lose, that was tough. So it was pretty down.”

Sunday morning, however, Betts said the temper in the clubhouse had rebounded.

“There’s a lot of vets in here and a lot of guys that know how to handle bad situations,” he said. “So this morning everything was great. The vibes were high.”

And then, two pitches into the sport, Ohtani raised them even larger, belting his twelfth leadoff home run of the season off fellow Japanese native Tomoyuki Sugano to tie Betts’ single-season franchise document.

“You could see the life in the dugout,” Roberts said.

“Shohei jump-starting, it lets us know we’re fine,” Betts added.

On Ohtani’s next journey to the plate, the two-way star went deep again, blasting his forty eighth home run of the yr on a 2-and-0 fastball Sugano left over the plate. Then, in the next at-bat, Betts left the yard himself with a drive to left.

Just like that, the Dodgers had a 3-0 lead — and later it prolonged to 4-0 on a fortunate break, when Miguel Rojas scored from third on an errant pickoff throw from Baltimore catcher Alex Jackson in the fourth.

“We haven’t gotten a break like that in a while,” Roberts quipped. “Miggy is playing his tail off. So for us to get a break like that, that was something that was very welcome and very needed.”

Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw delivers in the third inning against the Orioles on Sunday.

(Terrance Williams / Associated Press)

So too have been the closing innings of the sport, in which the Dodgers finally received across the end line behind a stout (if not completely stress-free) efficiency from the pitching workers.

As he has performed repeatedly this yr, Kershaw served as a stopper to another Dodgers slide, setting a new season high with eight strikeouts while giving up just two hits through his first 5 innings.

“Obviously a tough one last night, but everybody came in here with a good mindset. Everybody came in here ready to win a game today,” Kershaw said. “That’s the great thing about baseball, and the worst thing about baseball — that you play every day. It’s a new opportunity every day. And sometimes it’s hard. But that’s why not everybody plays it. You’ve got to put on your big boy pants and go play.”

Kershaw received knocked out of the sport in the sixth, following a Gunnar Henderson single and RBI double from Emmanuel Rivera with two outs. Rookie right-hander Edgardo Henriquez flirted with catastrophe after that, giving up another RBI double to Jackson and a loud fly ball to Dylan Carlson that died at the warning monitor.

But from there, the Dodgers settled back down.

Another rookie, left-hander Justin Wrobleski, supplied two vital innings of scoreless aid, putting out the ultimate 5 batters he confronted after placing two aboard in the seventh.

“I felt the team needed a jolt or something,” Wrobleski said. “Thankfully, I was able to go out there and feel really good and do what I wanted to.”

The Dodgers tacked on an insurance coverage run in the ninth, when Betts hit an RBI single off the wall (he was held to just the one base after not hustling out of the box) following a leadoff single from catcher Ben Rortvedt and a stroll from Ohtani (his third of the day, reaching base in all 5 journeys to the plate).

“Certainly, when you get Shohei and Mookie doing what they’re doing, that’s also helpful too,” Roberts said.

And after being walked off by the Orioles each of the first two nights at Camden Yards this weekend, the Dodgers prevented any additional fireworks in the ninth, with rookie left-hander Jack Dreyer coming on for his third save of the season.

“It’s good for other guys, or certain guys, to get opportunities and see how they respond,” Roberts said, after staying away from more veteran, but just lately struggling, relievers like Blake Treinen, Kirby Yates and Tanner Scott.

Granted, one win will put only the slightest dent in the harm the past week has already performed.

Instead of extending their National League West lead and making a run for a top-two seed in the NL, the Dodgers let the San Diego Padres (who have also been slumping) dangle around in the division and the Philadelphia Phillies (who at the moment maintain the No. 2 seed, which comes with a first-round bye in the playoffs) draw back in the standings.

Instead of capitalizing upon a weak spot in the schedule, they may return home with a 1-5 document against two last-place groups, having again reverted back to their $400 million roster’s most irritating type.

However, given the way in which Saturday ended, the season was beginning to really feel dangerously close to the brink. Sunday’s win, for at least at some point, helped calm the waters. Now, they’ve to determine a method to rise instead of sink.

“That’s really all you can do: Keep showing up, keep going on the field, keep playing,” Kershaw said. “We’re too good for it not to turn around.”

Muncy set to return; Smith, Glasnow progressing

When the Dodgers return home Monday to face another last-place group in the Colorado Rockies, they’ll do with a key reinforcement ready. Roberts said third baseman Max Muncy, who has missed virtually a month with an indirect injury, is predicted to be activated for Monday’s collection opener.

“I think that’s going to be helpful,” Roberts said.

Catcher Will Smith, who has missed the past 4 video games with a bone bruise on his hand, is also getting nearer to returning to the lineup, and was obtainable off the bench Sunday. Starting pitcher Tyler Glasnow, meanwhile, is predicted to make a start against the Rockies, as nicely, after docs cleared him following a bout of back tightness that pressured him to be scratched on Friday.

“We dodged a bullet,” Roberts said, “so we feel good about that.”