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Bottom of lineup sparks Dodgers to victory over A’s

May 15, 2025

LOS ANGELES — Batman had Robin, Simon had Garfunkel and the Dodgers had the bottom of the order on Wednesday.

The Dodgers turned to Hyeseong Kim for a home run on Wednesday and Miguel Rojas for a pinch-hit RBI double as the No. 9 spot delivered in a 9-3 victory over the visiting Athletics.

Shohei Ohtani hit his own home run and Andy Pages and Max Muncy also went deep, but it was the last spot in the order that was a difference-maker Wednesday, with more help for the big bats on the way.

Top prospect Dalton Rushing is expected to make his major league debut in Thursday’s series finale after the catcher was called up for the first time Wednesday.

With the heroics from the bottom of the order out of the way, the Dodgers’ stars were able to create some offensive chaos to supply some insurance runs. Mookie Betts gave the Dodgers some breathing room with a two-run double in the eighth for a 6-3 lead that came immediately after Ohtani was walked intentionally.

As if the A’s didn’t have enough to deal with already, they managed to fire up one of the game’s offensive stars. Upon reaching second base, Betts flexed his pectoral muscles and aimed a trio of “Yeahs” at the top of his lungs toward the opposing bench.

“I wouldn’t want to pitch to Shohei either,” Betts said. “I understand. It’s just all in the game, being a competitor and just let some emotion go.”

The A’s know all about the damage Ohtani can cause. His 19 home runs against them are his second-most against any team, outside of the Texas Rangers (21). Most of that damage came during his days with the Angels.

“I hadn’t hit anything all day, so I think it was a mix of finally coming through for the boys and then in that situation, we just needed something to happen to ensure a win there and it was a mix of happiness for myself and the boys,” Betts said.

Whether it’s with their stars, role players or new additions, the Dodgers are showing no mercy when it comes to making one of the best lineups even better. The stars were able to turn it on during last October’s run to a World Series championship and the same group helped get the club off to an 8-0 start this season.

But as a 20-15 record since then has shown, any and all help is welcome for MVP winners like Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman.

After Kim hit his first career home run, just over the right-field wall, to tie the score at 3-3 in the fifth inning, Manager Dave Roberts chose to pinch-hit for his rookie one inning later against A’s left-hander Hogan Harris. Rojas made good on the assignment, lashing a two-out double to right-center to score Michael Conforto from first base for the 4-3 lead.

“I always dreamed to play in this stadium,” Kim said after his first Dodger Stadium start. “I’m really happy. I’m really thrilled right now.”

The rally made a winner out of right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto (5-3), whose three runs allowed took his 1.80 ERA to 2.12. Yamamoto gave up four hits in six innings with two walks and six strikeouts.

“After falling behind (and) allowing some hits, I reset my mind and went back to fundamental things,” Yamamoto said through an interpreter. “Checked and then adjusted, and then tried to navigate and grind out this lineup.”

Through his first 11 games, Kim is batting .360 with a trio of multi-hit games.

“I think there’s a little bit of unorthodox swing, which I’m fine with,” Roberts said. “There’s bat to ball. I just think that for me, I’m just seeing a lot of compete. He’s squaring some balls up, hitting them in the pull-side gap. But he’s also soft-serving some balls out there, the infield hit tonight and then the homer. (He’s) just such a dynamic player that just putting the ball in play, moving it forward, something good potentially can happen.”

After an 11-1 loss to the A’s on Tuesday, when the lone run was scored on a Betts ground ball that was booted for an error, Ohtani got things started early with a leadoff home run for a 1-0 lead. It was the 15th leadoff home run of Ohtani’s career and his 13th overall this season.

Pages made it 2-0 in the second inning with a home run to left, his seventh.

The A’s jumped in front when Tyler Soderstrom hit a two-run home run in the third inning to tie it and Miguel Andujar added an RBI double in the fourth for a 3-2 lead.

Kim pulled his home run to right-center in the fifth inning in the rookie’s first home start. Rojas proved he is more than just a defensive replacement with his RBI double for the lead.

“I don’t really try to think about hitting with power,” said Kim, who is known more for defense, speed and an ability to make contact. “I think the only thing that I really care about is to hit a hard hit. And if a hit comes out, I’m happy. And if not, I gotta try to work hard on it.”

Left-hander Alex Vesia and right-hander Kirby Yates each delivered a scoreless inning with a strikeout each to get the Dodgers through the top of the eighth before they added five insurance runs. Betts’ two-run double came just before Muncy’s three-run home run.

“You’re just in the game and you kind of get lost in it,” Betts said.

Orange County Register

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Bottom of lineup sparks Dodgers to victory over A’s

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