Telepeer

Dodgers come from behind to sweep Rays despite rough start from Shohei Ohtani

June 17, 2026

LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers had Shohei Ohtani’s back this time.

Pitching with a knee issue that Dodgers manager Dave Roberts acknowledged is not “completely behind us,” Ohtani followed up his worst start of the season last week with his worst inning of the season on Wednesday afternoon. He retired just one of the first six batters he faced in the fifth inning and the Tampa Bay Rays scored four times to take the lead.

But Freddie Freeman answered back with a two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth that gave the Dodgers a 5-4 lead and a three-game sweep of their series with the Rays.

The four-run inning matched Ohtani’s season-high for runs allowed in a game – set last week in his start against the Pittsburgh Pirates. It was during that start that Ohtani says his mechanics were out of sync, possibly leading to the left knee inflammation that caused him to miss a game. He has also been pitching with a blister on the index finger of his pitching hand over the past two outings.

“It’s just part of the game,” Ohtani said through his interpreter. “There’s not a lot of situations where you feel 100 percent so I just took it as that, and it’s big that we were able to win a game like this.

“Actually, I just felt good overall. It’s just really that inning, that fifth inning, that I wasn’t really too pleased. But aside from that, the stuff was good and felt pretty good overall.”

Ohtani (not in the lineup to hit) cruised through four shutout innings against the Rays, allowing just two hits.

The Dodgers gave him a two-run lead in the bottom of the fourth when they used ABS challenges to twice turn a called strike into ball four. Those two walks set up Alex Call and Alex Freeland for two-out RBI singles.

Ohtani walked the leadoff hitter in the fifth inning, though, to start his troubles. Hunter Feduccia followed with a double to the center field wall. One run scored on a sacrifice fly, another on a two-strike single by Yandy Diaz.

It kept going from there. Jonathan Aranda singled and Cedric Mullins beat out an infield single when Ohtani was slow to cover first base on a grounder to Freeman — “a miscommunication,” Freeman said later. A run scored on a forceout and another on another two-strike RBI single, this one by Richie Palacios.

Through his first 10 starts this season, Ohtani had not given up more than one run in an inning. Over his past two starts, he has had a three-run and a four-run inning while giving up eight runs in 12⅔ innings.

“In Pittsburgh … he was one out away from going seven innings, one run. So I don’t know,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “He gave up a hit to the lefty down the right-field line, the double, which I think drove in two runs. Today, if they execute and don’t give up the base with the Mullins ball (the infield single), I think he doesn’t give up four. … I think there was another Palacios ball that just kind of had eyes, and so I don’t necessarily think too much of it.

“I mean, I don’t think anyone expected him to just never give up runs, though.”

It felt reasonable through those first 10 starts. He had an 0.74 ERA at that point. It is 1.47 now.

“Obviously, we expect close to perfection out of Sho every time he goes out there. So does he, out of himself,” said Dalton Rushing who has caught Ohtani for the first time this season in the past two starts with Will Smith on the Injured List. “But there’s no piece to worry at all. Obviously I think I can build a little better relationship moving forward, based off what has happened. Whether we get hit around here, hit around there, I don’t think it’s anything to worry about. I think it’s just a learning lesson for both of us.”

The Dodgers chipped away at the lead in the fifth inning when the first four batters reached base. One run scored when Kyle Tucker drew a bases-loaded walk but that’s all the Dodgers got in the inning when Call struck out, Rushing popped out to shallow right field and Freeland struck out.

That missed opportunity became tolerable when Andy Pages doubled with one out in the sixth off Rays reliever Kevin Kelly and Freeman got a 92-mph sinker that stayed up. He hit it 407 feet over the wall in center field for a two-run home run.

Edgardo Henriquez and Jack Dreyer passed the one-run lead along to Alex Vesia in the ninth. He walked the leadoff hitter and intentionally walked another batter after the tying run moved into scoring position. A third walk loaded the bases with two outs before Vesia struck out Cedric Mullins to strand them all.

“Yeah, I put myself into that mess,” Vesia said.

“Honestly for myself it’s just f-ing throw versus trying to place the ball. That’s all I got.”

The Dodgers’ bullpen that set a franchise record with 38 consecutive scoreless innings in May gave up 32 runs in their first 38 1/3 innings in June. In the sweep of the Rays, though, they contributed nine scoreless innings of relief, closing out three one-run wins.

“We clicked off 40-something (scoreless innings) then we had a couple tough ones and online everybody is supposed to get DFAed,” said Vesia, exaggerating only slightly on both points. “We believe in our guys in here. I certainly do. We’re going to have ups and downs but I think it helps us grow so at the end of the day that adversity right now will help us in the postseason.”

Orange County Register

News Details

Dodgers come from behind to sweep Rays despite rough start from Shohei Ohtani

News

CONTACT INFO

QUICK LINKS

SERVICES

CURRENT NEWS