Bottom of the order swings the game the Dodgers’ way
by Cary Osborne
Among the numbers the Dodgers are counting on swinging the other way are the combined output of the bottom of the lineup, pinch-hitting success rate, efficiency with runners in scoring position and efficiency with runners in scoring position and two outs.
The Dodgers’ eighth inning on Tuesday was a start.
With Dodgers and Nationals tied late in Washington D.C., James Outman, out of the №7 spot in the lineup, delivered a pinch-hit RBI double to give Los Angeles its first lead of the game. Later, Miguel Rojas, in the nine spot, gave the Dodgers a two-run lead with an RBI single.
They were difference-makers in the Dodgers’ 4–1 win to open the series.
Dodger pinch-hitters were 3-for-23 (all singles) coming into the Outman double.
Dodgers 7–8–9 hitters were 2-for-16 (all singles) with runners in scoring position in the seventh inning or later coming into the Outman double.
Dodgers 7–8–9 hitters were batting .168 coming into the game.
They were 4-for-12 on Tuesday with Rojas collecting two hits. His second — a two-out RBI single — gave the Dodgers a 3–1 lead.
Kiké Hernández, originally in the seven spot in the lineup, drove in the Dodgers’ first run of the game with a two-out RBI single in the top of the sixth inning. It tied the score 1–1 at the time.
Ohtani’s Wow Moment
Shohei Ohtani added a fourth run for the Dodgers with an incredible solo home run off Washington reliever Matt Barnes to the second deck in right field at Nationals Park.
Ohtani’s homer left the bat with a 118.7-mph exit velocity — the hardest hit ball of the 2024 Major League season. It traveled 450 feet — the longest homer by a Dodger this season.
· It surpassed Yasiel Puig’s 116.0-mph groundout from April 4, 2017 for the hardest hit ball by a Dodger in the Statcast Era (since 2015).
· It was the hardest-hit home run of Ohtani’s career.
· It was the third hardest-hit ball of Ohtani’s career behind a 119.1-mph double on April 10, 2022 and a 119.0-mph double on April 12, 2021.
· It was the 14th time Ohtani has hit a home run with a distance of at least 450 feet.
· It was the longest homer by a Dodger since Will Smith’s 465-foot homer on Sept. 14, 2022.
“He said he got jammed a little bit,” said manager Dave Roberts. “It’s lightning in that bat.”
Paxton and the Pitching
James Paxton has been a wizard on the mound this season, limiting damage.
He went 4 2/3 innings, allowed five hits and three walks with just one run allowed.
Paxton has allowed 32 baserunners this season in 20 2/3 innings. Six have scored.
Opponents are 6-for-33 with men on base against Paxton.
Paxton has a 2.61 ERA in four starts.
“My stuff’s not good out there right now,” Paxton said. “But I’m fighting and doing the best I can to keep us in the game.”
Michael Grove came in to relieve Paxton in the fifth with two on and two out and induced a flyout off the bat of Joey Meneses to end the inning.
The Dodger bullpen threw 4 1/3 scoreless innings on Tuesday.
