Jack Flaherty struck out 10 in his Dodger Stadium debut, Shohei Ohtani’s two-run homer highlighted a five-run third inning and Los Angeles beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 9-5 on Friday night.
It was a needed win for the NL West-leading Dodgers after San Diego and Arizona also won. The Dodgers' lead over the Padres is 2 1/2 games, their slimmest in months.
“We're very aware of it,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “That just puts the onus on us to play good baseball.”
Flaherty (9-5) got the victory in his first start at home since joining the Dodgers from Detroit before last month's trade deadline. The native of nearby Burbank made his first appearance at the stadium as a 6-month-old when his mother brought him to a game.
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“It was a lot of fun,” Flaherty said. “It's a special thing. Just enjoying every second of it.”
Flaherty was applauded when he exited with two outs in the sixth and the Dodgers ahead 9-4. The right-hander allowed four runs and nine hits in 5 2/3 innings while throwing a season and team-high 110 pitches.
“Jack was good, just a solid performance,” Roberts said. “One thing I have learned so far about Jack is a situation, a moment isn't going to be too big for him. He has the ability to make pitches when he needs to and that's huge.”
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Ohtani's 448-foot shot to center scored Andy Pages, who walked against Mitch Keller (10-6). Will Smith added a two-run single and Miguel Rojas had a two-out RBI single that extended the lead to 6-0.
It was the Japanese superstar's 11th homer of 440 feet or more this season, the most by a Dodgers player in the Statcast era that began in 2015. Ohtani's 35 homers lead the NL and trail only Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees (41) in baseball.
“When it's in that hitting zone, he does things with the baseball that no one else can do. He just continues to amaze,” Roberts said of Ohtani. “I played with Barry Bonds and the ball just didn't come off like it does from Shohei's bat.”
Teoscar Hernández’s two-out RBI single in the fourth made it 7-1. Kiké Hernández added a two-run shot on the 11th pitch from Keller with two outs in the fifth. His line-drive went off the glove of left fielder Bryan Reynolds.
“Jack's first time at home you just want to give him as many runs as possible,” Freddie Freeman said.
Freeman homered with two outs in the first for the Dodgers. Freeman returned to the team on Monday after missing eight games to be with his ailing 3-year-old son. He also doubled, walked and had a stolen base.
“I didn't know how I was going to do after not seeing live pitching,” Freeman said. “I've actually been seeing the ball OK.”
Pittsburgh's Oneil Cruz hit a solo homer to lead off the fourth. Joey Bart blasted a three-run shot with two outs in the fifth, closing the Pirates' deficit to 7-4.
Domingo Germán returned to the big leagues a year after he flamed out with the New York Yankees because of behavioral issues. The Pirates selected his contract from Triple-A Indianapolis.
Germán relieved starter Mitch Keller in the fifth inning against the Dodgers. He gave up two runs and one hit in four innings while striking out three and walking two.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Dodgers: RHP Walker Buehler (hip) could rejoin the team next Thursday during their series in Milwaukee.
UP NEXT
Pirates: RHP Paul Skenes (6-1, 1.99 ERA) starts Saturday.
Dodgers: RHP River Ryan (1-0, 1.72) is coming off 4 2/3 innings of two-run ball against Oakland last week.
