Shohei Ohtani Delivers a Walk-Off Single in the 10th Inning of the Dodgers’ 3-2 Win over Cincinnati

AP

10:06 JST, May 20, 2024

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Shohei Ohtani delivered his second major league walk-off hit Sunday, a two-out single in the 10th inning that sent the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 3-2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds.

Andy Pages hit an early two-run homer for the Dodgers, who have won 20 of 26 after taking three of four from Cincinnati.

Pinch-hitter Will Smith drew a one-out walk in the 10th from Alexis Díaz (1-3), who got Mookie Betts to fly out before Ohtani stroked a single to right, scoring Jason Heyward. Ohtani’s latest feat set off a loud celebration for another huge weekend crowd at Dodger Stadium, and the two-time AL MVP’s teammates doused him with water in celebration.

“I was looking to just put the ball in play, so I’m glad it worked out well,” Ohtani said through an interpreter. “We dropped the first game of the series, so we really wanted to finish strong.”

Ohtani’s only other walk-off hit in Major League Baseball was an 11th-inning single for the Los Angeles Angels in a 6-5 win over Houston on Sept. 4, 2020.

“He’s had a lot of big hits for us,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “But the first walk-off, certainly at home, was exciting.”

Stuart Fairchild had two hits for the Reds, who have lost 15 of 18. Cincinnati also has lost seven consecutive series.

Anthony Banda (1-0) got three straight outs in the 10th in his debut with the Dodgers, who acquired the reliever from Cleveland on Friday. Banda’s win was his first since May 28, 2022, with Pittsburgh. He has pitched for the Blue Jays, Yankees, Nationals and Dodgers — and played in the Guardians’ minor league system — since leaving the Pirates less than two years ago.

Cincinnati reliever Emilio Pagan left abruptly with two outs in the ninth and a 2-1 count on Heyward. Pagan recorded two outs before throwing three straight fastballs to Heyward and then heading to the dugout.

Diaz struck out Heyward to force extra innings.

Hunter Greene struck out eight while pitching four-hit ball into the seventh inning for Cincinnati in his second career start in his hometown. The hard-throwing right-hander got youth coaching at Compton’s Major League Baseball Urban Youth Academy and played high school ball in Sherman Oaks before the Reds made him the second overall pick in the 2017 amateur draft.

“Just one pitch got the best of me, but other than that, I felt like I was pretty focused,” Greene said. “Obviously, it’s not fun that we’re going through it, but we’re just going out there and trying to compete and do our best.”

Landon Knack yielded one run on three hits over the first 4 2/3 innings for the Dodgers in his fourth major league appearance. Knack made three starts in April, and he got recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City for this spot start apparently so the Dodgers could give a full week of rest to Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

“When you play for an organization that has as much talent as this one, you have to understand how your opportunities are going to be, and you just have to take them,” Knack said.

Freddie Freeman singled in the fourth before Pages put Greene’s poor slider into the short porch down the left-field line for the fifth homer of his rookie season.

Cincinnati had been shut out for 16 consecutive innings at Chavez Ravine before it scored on back-to-back doubles to left in the fifth by Fairchild and Santiago Espinal, whose catchable drive fooled Teoscar Hernández.

Cincinnati tied it in the seventh when pinch-hitter Spencer Steer — a Long Beach native in an 0-for-16 slump — drew a bases-loaded walk on nine pitches from Alex Vesia, who then escaped the jam.

UP NEXT

Reds: Andrew Abbott (2-4, 3.06 ERA) takes the mound Tuesday at home to begin a series against San Diego.

Dodgers: Yamamoto (4-1, 3.21 ERA) takes the mound Monday to open a three-game home series against Arizona.