LOS ANGELES — Shohei Ohtani tied profession highs with 4 hits and two residence runs, and James Paxton had his strongest and longest begin of the season within the Dodgers' 5-1 victory over the Braves on Sunday at Dodger Stadium, ending a three-game sweep. Atlanta sweep.
The Dodgers have received 11 of their final 13 video games.
Mookie Betts drew his twenty eighth MLB stroll of the season to open the primary inning, then Ohtani rallied for the second straight day, this time with a 412-foot bomb to straightaway heart area.
Max Fried adopted by hitting Freddie Freeman with a pitch, however then he was a troublesome buyer for the subsequent 5 innings. Ohtani has singled twice greater than Fried, and the primary three hits in opposition to lefties. His Dodgers teammates had been hitless in his first 16 at-bats Sunday till Teoscar Hernández joined the get together with a two-run residence run within the sixth.
Ohtani added a moonshot against lefty AJ Minter in the eighth inning for his first multi-homer sport of the season and seventeenth of his profession. Ohtani's 4 hits additionally tied a profession excessive (his seventh such sport).
On the season, Ohtani is now hitting .364/.426/.685, and leads the majors in OPS (1.111), wRC+ (212), slugging proportion, batting common (tied with Alec Bohm), hits (52) , residence. runs (10, even) and extra-base hits (25).
Command heart
After going by his first 5 begins with little command, Paxton pounded the strike zone all day for his longest begin to date with the Dodgers. Among the many 125 main league pitchers with not less than 25 innings getting into Sunday, Paxton ranked 122nd with a 58.1 % strikeout proportion, however in opposition to the Braves he threw 58 of his 84 pitches for strikes (69 %).
April's wildness was so out of character for Paxton, that his 7.8 profession strikeout proportion was barely higher than the MLB fee over his 11 seasons (8.3 %). His highest stroll fee earlier than this yr was 9.8 % again in 2015 (excluding his walks in 5 batters confronted in 2021). However by Paxton's first 5 begins, his stroll fee was 19.3 %, with a significant league-high 22 walks in his 25⅔ innings.
Paxton on Sunday issued a nine-pitch stroll to Austin Riley with two outs within the first inning and a one-out stroll to Ronald Acuña Jr. within the sixth However Paxton didn't enable a run till a solo shot by Marcell Ozuna within the seventh. At 6⅔ innings, Sunday was Paxton's longest begin since final June 30 when he was with the Pink Sox.
The protection helped Paxton as properly. Kiké Hernández hit a tough throw to quick left area on Ozuna's grounder to 3rd base within the second inning, and Freddie Freeman made an unimaginable dig into first base to finish the sport. Mookie Betts and Gavin Lux was a double play within the third inning. Teoscar Hernández within the seventh inning threw out Matt Olson trying to stretch a double off a ball hit to the right field wall.
Welcome again
Blake Treinen's first main league sport since Sport 2 of the 2022 NLDS noticed him known as into the eighth inning with a three-run lead, going 9-1-2 in Atlanta's lineup. He retired the aspect so as, together with a strikeout of Jarred Kelenic to open the body.
Treinen is the twenty second totally different pitcher the Dodgers have used this season, and Walker Buehler would be the twenty third when he begins Monday. In 2023, when the Dodgers tied a crew file (2021) by utilizing 39 pitchers in a whole season, they used 20 totally different pitchers within the first 37 video games of the season.
Typically, the cost day is Sunday
Paxton earned the primary of his contract bonuses based mostly on video games began, getting $600,000 for making his sixth begin of the season. He can earn one other $600,000 for every of eight, 10, 12 and 16 begins, plus $1 million if he makes 18 begins this season.
The left-hander already earned a $2 million bonus for being on the lively roster on March 28, along with his $4 million wage and $3 million signing bonus.
Particular Sunday
Programs at residence: Shohei Ohtani 2 (10), Theoscar Hernandez (8); Marcell Ozuna (10)
WP – James Paxton (4-0): 6⅔ IP, 5 hits, 1 run, 2 walks, 3 strikeouts
LP – Max Fried (2-1): 7 IP, 4 hits, 4 runs, 3 walks, 7 strikeouts
Subsequent
Walker Buehler makes his first main league begin in 696 days Monday night time (7:10 p.m.; SportsNet LA, MLB Community). Proper-hander Roddery Muñoz begins for the Marlins.