PITTSBURGH — Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said prior to Wednesday’s night’s 10-6 loss to the Pirates that he didn’t foresee himself making any changes to the top three spots in his batting order, despite the offensive core’s recent struggles.
Following a 1-0 shutout in Tuesday’s series opener at PNC Park — a game where Los Angeles went an abysmal 0-for-12 with runners in scoring position — the lineup was at least able to get back on track in the middle game against Pittsburgh, despite a second straight loss in the three-game set.
On a night in which Dodgers starting pitcher James Paxton was unable to get through the second inning — giving up seven runs (six earned) on six hits and a pair of walks — the offense continued to put up tough at-bats against Pirates rookie phenom Paul Skenes, charging him with three runs and chasing him from the game after five innings.
That, in itself, was a win for Roberts and the Dodgers’ offense.
“I thought that today was a really good offensive performance,” Roberts said. “I thought the at-bats were much better. I thought we were on the fastball and were taking some borderline off-speed pitches.
“I thought we did a really good job tonight of competing and hitting to our zone.”
On top of out-hitting the Pirates, 11-9, six of the Dodgers’ nine starters recorded a hit. Right fielder Jason Heyward went 3-for-4 with three doubles and two runs scored, while catcher Will Smith (2-for-5 with an RBI) and center fielder Andy Pages (2-for-4 with a home run) also recorded multi-hit games.
After striking out on three pitches in his first at-bat, two-way star Shohei Ohtani put Los Angeles on the board with a two-run blast to straightaway center field in the third inning.
“[Our] overall team approach has been a lot better recently,” Ohtani said through interpreter Will Ireton. “I think the game would have been a lot different if I was able to hit one more homer in my fifth at-bat.”
Ohtani, who entered the game slashing just .203/.266/.356 in his previous 15 games as he battles a right hamstring contusion, went 2-for-5. It was just his second home run in the past 15 games.
“Every day it’s just working on getting better,” Ohtani said. “Sometimes you do better and sometimes you don’t. So, I feel like it’s just part of the process.”
“He’s been taking some extra swings and trying to work through some things,” Roberts said. “He’s obviously one of the best hitters in the game, and so to get him back in the strike zone and hit the ball hard like he did tonight, is certainly a good sign.”
Roberts said that while getting to face Jones the night before may have set them up for more success against Skenes, the skipper was more pleased with how the group hunted their zone and was more aggressive with opposing fastballs.
“I think that the numbers don’t lie,” Roberts said. “I think you can even say [that when facing] 95 [mph] and 94 [mph], we’re not performing the way that we should. I think there’s a little bit of pause, as far as making a decision, and being a little too careful at times, trying to see the ball a little too long, not making yourself susceptible to the breaking speed.
“So I think that causes you to be late on the heater.”
For now, the Dodgers need to prove to the rest of MLB that they can hit high-velocity pitching, or else they’ll be seeing a lot more of it.
“Like anything, until you show that you can flip the script or do something different, they’re going to continue to exploit it,” Roberts said.
