Max Muncy’s three-run double was the highlight of a five-run fifth inning, Shohei Ohtani stole his 39th base of the season, and the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Seattle Mariners 8-4 on Wednesday night to finish a three-game sweep.
Ohtani is just one stolen base and one home run away from becoming the fastest player in major league history to reach 40 home runs and 40 stolen bases. He would also be the first player in Dodgers history to achieve this.
The Dodgers outscored the Mariners 17-7 in the series. The Dodgers won their fourth straight game, extending their lead over Arizona and San Diego to four games.
“What we did with those starters this series was a clinic,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “You could argue that starting staff over there is top-two baseball. Grinding those guys, getting to the pen was one of our more impressive three-game series as far as beating the starter.”
Dodgers starter Jack Flaherty (10-5) allowed two runs—one earned—and five hits in 5 2/3 innings. The right-hander struck out five and walked one.
The struggling Mariners have lost three games in a row and eight of their last nine. They went 1-8 on their trip to Detroit, Pittsburgh, and Los Angeles.
The Dodgers extended their lead to 8-1 with two outs in the fifth inning. Freddie Freeman’s RBI double scored Ohtani, who had singled, stolen second base, and advanced to third on a wild pitch by Logan Gilbert.
Freeman scored on Hernández’s RBI single after moving to third base on another wild pitch by Gilbert. Muncy’s double into the right-field corner added three more runs.
“They have a really good pitching staff over there, arguably the best in baseball, and to be able to just get a couple good swings off felt really, really good,” said Muncy, who returned from the injured list earlier this week after missing nearly three months.
Gilbert (7-10) retired the first six Dodgers before they scored in each of the next three innings. The right-hander gave up eight runs and seven hits in 4 2/3 innings, struck out seven, and walked two. He also had three wild pitches, all of which resulted in runs.
