LOS ANGELES–What happened? In his previous five starts, Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed just four and two runs on three hits in his last 16 1/3 innings.
Last September, Yamamoto no-hit the Orioles for 8 2/3 innings, but on Saturday night, the Orioles scored three runs in six innings against him as they beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 3-2 before 50,538 at Dodger Stadium.
Trevor Rogers allowed one hit in seven scoreless innings.
Leody Taveras and Colton Cowser started the second with singles. Taveras scored when Coby Mayo hit into a force play.
Blaze Alexander drove in two runs a double past third base in the fourth, giving the Orioles (36-42) a 3-0 lead.
“Our guys did a great job of having really good at-bats,” manager Craig Albernaz said.
“Leody and then Cowser — Cowser with a big hit and Leody going first to third was huge. Mayo moving the ball forward to score the run, great contact read by Leody. And then Blaze sneaking that down the line for a big two-run double was huge. But yeah, just proud of our guys’ at-bats against a tough pitcher.”
Rogers (4-7) didn’t allow a hit until Tommy Edman’s single to center with two outs in the fifth. He walked Andy Pages, the second batter of the first, who was promptly thrown out trying to steal.
That was the only hit he allowed against the two-time defending World Series champions.
“I’ll take it. At the end of the day, we won the ballgame and I was able to give my team a chance to win and kept us in it,” Rogers said. “To do that against probably the best lineup in baseball, some of the best players to ever play this game, it was just awesome. At the end of the day, we got the win, and I’m just happy I was able to contribute.”
Rogers walked Mookie Betts with two outs in the seventh. Miguel Rojas flied to deep center to end the seventh, finishing his night. He threw 96 pitches, striking out six along with those two walks.
Edman singled against Rico Garcia to start the eighth. Garcia struck out Kyle Tucker and Max Muncy before Dalton Rushing flied to right against Grant Wolfram.
Shohei Ohtani, who missed Friday night’s game for the birth of his second child, homered against Andrew Kittredge to lead off the ninth. Taylor Ward made a fabulous diving catch on Pages liner to left. Kittredge walked Freddie Freeman.
Yennier Cano survived a rough inning defensively. Mookie Betts’ ball bounced off Mayo’s glove at third and went for an infield single. Had he fielded it, it could have been a game-ending double play.
After Alex Freeland flied to left, Edman reached when Taveras in right dropped his fly ball for an error as Freeman scored. Cano struck out Kyle Tucker for his first save of the season.
“You can’t get frustrated there,” Cano said through a team translator. “That’s my defense playing behind me. They have some moments like that. It’s going to happen, but at the same time, there’s been times where they rob a home run or they make an excellent defensive play out there. It’s part of the game. It happens, but I’m happy to have those guys back there.”
Jackson Holliday left the game in the eighth inning with groin tightness after he ran hard to first base in the sixth. Jeremiah Jackson replaced him.
“His groin tightened up a little bit when he lunged on first trying to beat out that ball,” Albernaz said. “He stayed in and it was getting tighter on him, so we just made the move to get JJ in there so this thing doesn’t get too serious.”
The Orioles are 2 ½ games out of the final wild-card spot.
How good was Rogers? Rogers began the season with three quality starts, then went nine starts without one. He’s now thrown two in a row, and his fastball was outstanding.
“I think it was more of just reading the situation of the game, reading the swings on the heater, and it was probably the best fastball performance of the year so far,” Rogers said.
“We were just riding it, and it continued to perform really well. We knew we had spots to certain guys with heaters, and we just took what the game gave us and it turned out pretty well.”
Albernaz was pleased with Rogers’ showing.
“Trevor was outstanding tonight,” Albernaz said. “He had everything going, was efficient with his pitches, pounding the strike zone. He made some really good hitters not look like they were good hitters, and that’s a credit to him. He did a great job of shutting ’em down and give us a chance to win. It was awesome.”
How about the bullpen’s performance? Ryan Helsley was unavailable, and the Kittredge/Cano combination in a save situation was a first this season.
“Before the game, we decided on Kitt was going to be the guy to close, but also knowing that he threw 29 pitches yesterday, some grindy at-bats, so we also knew we had Cano, too,” Albernaz said.”That’s kind of why we went with Kitt. Kitt did a great job, but then with Cano fresh, we wanted to bring him in right there.”
Despite Cano not having been in a save situation this year, it didn’t unnerve him.
“No, not at all. I felt good. I felt relaxed out there. I didn’t feel any nerves at all. I felt really comfortable pitching in that ninth inning. Thankfully the results were good tonight as well.”
There were some scary times for Rogers as he watched the ninth inning.
“It was great,” Rogers said. “We have one of the best bullpens, in my opinion, in the league, and that’s just tough [for] the team on the other side, you’ve got to beat them all nine innings and you can’t give them an extra out or they’re going to get you. It’s a good moment for us to rebound and bear down. Cano did a hell of a job with guys in scoring position.”
How big was Alexander’s hit? Alexander is hitting .303 with a .774 OPS and his double was hugee.
“When you get runs off that guy, it’s always good,” Alexander said. “We had him there, bases loaded, you know? Thankfully, had a pretty good pitch to hit. Put a good swing on it. I capped it, didn’t hit it very hard, but right placement and two RBIs got us going. And the way Trev was throwing, that’s about all we needed there. I know it got fun there at the end, but we came through.”
Alexander was with Arizona for two years and enjoyed playing in Los Angeles.
“I love it. It gets me juiced up,” Alexander said. “It’s probably my favorite place to play. I’ve had some big moments here, but it’s Dodger Stadium. It’s kind of a mecca. This, Yankee Stadium, Camden is up there. Any time you play here, I’m fired up. Woke up today and knew I was in the lineup and I was fired up, ready to come and compete with the boys, and just wanted to get a win.”
What does it mean? The Orioles are now 2-3 on the road trip, and a win on Sunday against the Dodgers would be enormous.
What’s the stat of the day? 16. It was Cano’s 16th save of his career and his first since last September 3rd.
What’s the word? “It was unbelievable. I don’t know the stat line, but I know when he walked off the field, there were a lot of zeroes and just one hit up there. That’s who Trevor Rogers is. When he’s right, he’s one of the best pitchers in the game.”-Alexander on Trevor Rogers
What’s going on in the minor leagues? Heston Kjerstad homered and drove in three runs in Triple-A Norfolk’s 11-10 loss to Syracuse.
Joseph Dzierwa gave up just a run on two hits in six innings as Double-A Chesapeake beat Richmond 7-1. Anderson De Los Santos homered and drove in four runs. Frederick Bencosme and Ethan Anderson also homered.
Yasmil Bucce and RJ Austin homered in High-A Frederick’s 13-8 loss to Hub City.
Andrew Herbert allowed a run on seven hits in 6 1/3 innings as Single-A Delmarva beat Myrtle Beach 8-1.
Joshua Liranzo drove in four runs.
What’s next? Brandon Young (5-2, 3.18) faces Emmet Sheehan (3-4, 4.76) on Sunday at 4:10 p.m.
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