Jesús Sánchez hit two doubles and brought in three runs as the Miami Marlins defeated Shohei Ohtani and the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers 11-9 on Tuesday night.
Ohtani struck out three times but also hit his 48th home run while trying to become the first player in MLB history to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in a season. He hasn’t stolen a base for the fifth game in a row, staying at 48.
Everyone is watching Ohtani as he aims for this impressive goal. Fans at the Marlins’ home stadium cheered for him throughout the night, but Ohtani said he doesn’t feel much pressure.
“No pressure, just trying to maintain quality at-bats regardless of the situation,” he said through an interpreter. “It is something I’ve been trying to do over the course of the entire season.”
Sánchez had a great game, going 5 for 5, while Otto López and Jake Burger also hit home runs for the Marlins.
Burger’s home run was a two-run shot in the eighth inning that made the score 11-7 and gave the Marlins a crucial lead, especially when Max Muncy brought the Dodgers closer with a two-run double in the ninth.
“Any time you’re playing that lineup, you feel like no lead is safe no matter what,” Burger said. “It doesn’t matter how good our pitching is; it’s just one of those things that when you have Shohei Ohtani at the top of their lineup, there’s a chance that a three-run home run can put them in striking distance.”
Connor Norby became the first Marlin this season to score four runs in a single game, going 2 for 3 with a single, double, and two walks. Kyle Stowers contributed with an RBI triple in the fourth inning and a run-scoring double in the sixth, helping the Marlins total 15 hits.
Muncy added a single that drove in a run, doubled, and stole a base earlier in the game for the Dodgers, who started the day 3 1/2 games ahead of second-place San Diego, which was set to play Houston later that night.
The Dodgers are currently the No. 2 seed in the National League, just behind Philadelphia. Manager Dave Roberts mentioned last week that there was a “slim” chance Ohtani would pitch in the postseason, but Ohtani said on Tuesday that he hasn’t talked about pitching yet.
“There was no conversation that was brought about with the pitching coach in terms of pitching in the postseason,” he said. “But we’re going to have a meeting back in LA to discuss the rehab progression.”
Ohtani hasn’t pitched this season, which is his first with the Dodgers, due to elbow surgery.
Reliever Anthony Veneziano earned his first major league win after striking out two batters and allowing one hit in 1 1/3 innings.
The Marlins scored four runs in the first two innings against starter Bobby Miller, who was taken out after giving up seven hits, one walk, and two strikeouts.
The Dodgers fought back with four runs in the third inning, sparked by Ohtani’s two-run home run against starter Darren McCaughan, which he hit 402 feet to right field.
“I don’t want to see him at the plate, ever,” Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said about Ohtani. “We made some really good pitches… He hit one a long way. He’s hit a lot of them a long way this year. Those are going to happen at times. When there’s nobody on base it’s better.”
Michael Grove (4-4) took the loss after coming in for Miller in the third and giving up a go-ahead RBI double to Sánchez in the fourth that put the Marlins ahead 6-5. Sánchez then scored on Stowers’ triple, and the Marlins kept their lead from that point on.
“They’re a really strong team,” Sánchez said. “There’s no doubt about that. That’s the truth. What we did was execute our game plan, and we did it very well.”
McCaughan pitched 3 2/3 innings, giving up six hits and five runs while striking out four. Miguel Rojas also homered off McCaughan in the fourth inning, tying the game at five.
