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Shohei Ohtani helps Dodgers to early lead in victory over Diamondbacks

June 3, 2026

PHOENIX — Since he got a day off, Shohei Ohtani has been hitting like someone who doesn’t ever want another one.

Ohtani’s ninth multi-hit game in 17 games since he sat for a day started with a double and a two-run triple as the Dodgers jumped out to an early lead and held on through a rocky finish for a 6-5 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday night.

“That’s why we’ve been winning a lot. When you have the greatest player of all time playing this game on your team, and he’s hot like he is right now, it’s fun to watch, fun to be a part of,” said Freddie Freeman who had his own fun with a two-run home run as part of a three-hit game. “It’s nice when he gets on. It seems like every single time he’s creating havoc on the bases, extra-base hits. And we get to watch him do everything tomorrow (when Ohtani is scheduled to pitch).

“I mean, when he’s on base, when he’s feeling good, it just kind of trickles into everybody else. He’s leading off the game with doubles, triples, singles, getting on base, walks. When he’s feeling good, he works the counts. Like I said, he’s the greatest player there is. So when the greatest player is going well, usually good things happen for the team.”

Things weren’t going well for the greatest player a few weeks ago.

Ohtani was just 6 for his previous 42 and his season batting average down to .240 on May 13 when the Dodgers opted to send Ohtani to the mound to pitch against the San Francisco Giants. But he wasn’t in the lineup at DH. The next day, he wasn’t in the lineup at all.

Fueled perhaps by that refreshing oasis in the midst of his two-way journey, Ohtani has hit .410 (25 for 61) with seven doubles, two triples, three home runs, 16 RBIs and 12 runs scored in the past 17 games. Not coincidentally, the Dodgers have won 13 of those 17 games.

He led off Tuesday’s game with a 105.7 mph laser into the right field corner for a double. Two batters later, he trotted home when Freeman turned on a fastball from former Braves teammate Michael Soroka and sent a two-run home run into the right field seats.

Freeman has been on his own hot streak, going 16 for 46 (.348) over his past 13 games with five home runs and 12 RBI.

“It’s great. It’s kind of how we built this team on the offensive side,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “Certainly it makes life a lot easier for everyone else. It seems like there’s always traffic creating a situational at-bat.

“There’s some other guys we’ve got to get going. But it is good that the guys at the top and also the guys at the bottom did a nice job tonight.”

In the second inning, back-to-back singles by Dalton Rushing and Alex Freeland — those guys at the bottom of the lineup — put two runners on when Ohtani sent another liner into the right field corner, this time for a triple.

The four-run burst gave Dodgers starter Eric Lauer a comfortable cushion in an uncomfortable spot.

Going into Tuesday’s game, the Diamondbacks had feasted on left-handed pitching. They had the highest batting average in MLB against lefties (.281), the second-highest slugging percentage (.486) and OPS (.795), both behind only the New York Yankees.

But the left-handed Lauer kept the Diamondbacks off balance with an assortment of pitches that included his liveliest fastball of the season – he averaged 91.5 mph (up from a season average of 90.5 mph) and even touched 94 mph, a season-high for him.

“I think overall it’s stuff that I kind of had been working on. It was just, when I was DFA’d, I think I was on my way to making these adjustments, and I was kind of getting to them,” Lauer said. “I think here I’ve just been able to implement them a little bit more. And I think the work between starts has been good for me, so being able to just focus on those things, and really put them into play has been big for me.”

He gave up a solo home run to Corbin Carroll in the third inning and ran into trouble in the fifth when Roberts went to the bullpen. A temp brought in to soak up innings and keep the Dodgers’ six-man starting rotation full until Tyler Glasnow or Blake Snell return (or River Ryan is deemed ready to join the group), Lauer lugged a 6.69 ERA with him from Toronto but he has given the Dodgers two very serviceable starts (three runs in 10 1/3 innings).

“I couldn’t be more pleased,” Roberts said. “It sort of reminds you of what Tyler Anderson did for us years ago. He’s prepared, he’s not scared, and he uses his pitch mix to get outs, and that’s the most important thing. So, he’s not going to punch a bunch of guys out, but he was a good add for us.”

The Diamondbacks had better luck against the right-handers in the Dodgers’ bullpen and the early lead started to melt like a popsicle left in the front seat of a parked car here.

After the Dodgers stretched their lead to 6-2 in the seventh inning, Kyle Hurt came on in the bottom of the inning. It didn’t go well. Hurt walked three of the six batters he faced, gave up a two-run double to Nolan Arenado and left with two runners on.

ABS helped the Diamondbacks turn it into a one-run game. A called strike three against Geraldo Perdomo was challenged and overturned. He lined a single into left field off Will Klein to load the bases. Klein walked Pavin Smith to force in a run. The Dodgers challenged ball four, but ABS confirmed the call.

Klein got out of the inning but put the tying and go-ahead runs on base when he gave up back-to-back singles to Carroll and Moreno with one out. Klein escaped damage when he got Arenado to bounce into a double play.

“I think they were just missing. I think specifically to Kyle I thought he was being a little too fine with the fastball, just missing off. Got into some tougher counts,” Roberts said. “Then I think with Will, those guys put together some good at-bats but he made pitches when he needed to. Got a huge double play.

“They’re not going to be clean every time out there. They’ve both been very good for us. You’ve got to give those guys credit today, the Diamondbacks. They spoiled some pitches. They hit to the opposite field. They battled tonight.”

In his first appearance since letting a two-run lead get away for his first blown save of the season on Saturday, Tanner Scott gave up a one-out single in the ninth but stranded the tying run to close it out.

Orange County Register

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Shohei Ohtani helps Dodgers to early lead in victory over Diamondbacks

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