JSerra converted on three fourth downs in the second half Friday, allowing the Lions to battle back from a seven-point, first-half deficit to beat host Bishop Amat 37-28.
With the nonleague victory, JSerra improves to 4-1, while Bishop Amat falls to 4-1.
JSerra quarterback Hayes Cloutier, who threw for two touchdowns and rushed for three, engineered all three second-half conversions, two with his legs and one with his arm.
The first, and most impressive, came on the Lions’ first possession of the half. Trailing 28-21 and facing fourth and three on the Bishop Amat 27-yard line, Cloutier zigged and zagged across the field, eluding most of the defense.
After the Lions tied the score, sophomore defensive back Sean Veritch snagged a deflected pass by Bishop Amat quarterback Domenico Doran, and the Lions drove to the Lancers’ 16-yard line. On fourth and 10, Evan Leddy kicked a 33-yard field goal to give JSerra an apparent 31-28 lead, but the Lions accepted a penalty on Bishop Amat that moved the ball to the 11-yard line.
JSerra coach Hardy Nickerson opted to go for it on fourth down, and Cloutier rewarded his gamble, scoring on an 11-yard run. Leddy’s extra point was blocked, and JSerra settled for a 34-28 lead.
JSerra High quarterback Hayes Cloutier leaps as he tries to evade a tackle by a Bishop Amat defenders.
(Nick Koza)
The Lions’ defense, which had given up scores on four of Bishop Amat’s five first-half possessions, then stiffened, forcing the Lancers to punt. With about two minutes remaining in the third quarter, the Lions reeled off a 23-play drive, which included four JSerra penalties and ate up more than 10 minutes.
A 22-yard run by Cloutier was key, as was his four-yard completion to Clark Cokely on a fourth-and-two play. The drive ended with a 44-yard field goal by Leddy that gave JSerra a 37-28 lead.
After surrendering 28 first-half points, JSerra held Bishop Amat scoreless, and running back Justin Clinton, who rushed for more than 130 yards, including a 67-yard burst and a 43-yard touchdown, in check in the second half.
“It was a heavyweight fight,” Nickerson said of the first half. “But my defensive staff just put it together in the second. We turned things up and made adjustments.
“We knew that if we could get in the throwing lanes and forced them to have to pass the football … we felt we would have a chance. And those guys went out and executed the second half and it was beautiful.”
The Dodgers (80-54), who were swept for the third time this month, are clinging to a one-game lead over the Braves (79-55) for the second-best record in the National League. They are three games behind the Milwaukee Brewers (83-51) for the best record in baseball.
“I wish we’d played better,” Roberts said. “I wish we’d have won the game. I wish we’d won the series. It didn’t happen. But right now, there’s nothing we can do but just go out there and keep trying to get better and win a baseball game [Friday].”
What was expected to be a pitchers’ duel between Dodgers rotation leader Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Sale lived up to the hype.
Yamamoto gave up a home run to Drake Baldwin on his first pitch, but he quickly settled in and gave up just three more hits while striking out eight over 6⅓ innings.
Sale was even better. He mowed down the Dodgers with 11 strikeouts, limiting them to five hits in nine innings.
The Dodgers went up against an even crisper version of Sale. His velocity was up, and the 100.1-mph fastball he threw to Shohei Ohtani the second time through the order was his hardest-thrown pitch since 2018, according to MLB.com.
“That guy, he’s doing things no one’s ever seen,” Sale told reporters after striking out Ohtani and holding him hitless in four at-bats. “Tit for tat, he’s probably the best I’ve ever seen. When you’re facing the best, you gotta bring your best. Tonight it worked out.
“You can’t hang your hat on that kind of stuff. You never anticipate or expect that because of who he is and his talent and what he brings to the table. This is a game of small battles. He’s going to win some, I’m gonna win some. When you’ve got a guy like that, you gotta step on the gas a little bit.”
The Dodgers have struggled at times since the All-Star break, but Will Smith’s return from injury and Shohei Ohtani’s return to pitching should help.
Sale got a standing ovation when he walked out for the ninth inning. And Braves fans booed when a safe call at first withstood replay review instead of ending the game on a double play. But Sale remained and had an even bigger final moment of the game: one more strikeout.
“Sale had it, and we didn’t have much of an answer,” said Mookie Betts, the only Dodger with two hits. “We’ve been able to score runs [the last couple of months]. We might not score 10 a night, but we’re scoring runs and giving ourselves a chance to win games. We just got to figure out other ways to win and be able to push a couple more runs across and whatnot.”
Thursday marked the 13th one-run game the Dodgers have played this month. And the small margins seem to be taking a toll, as the Dodgers’ bullpen and defense have wavered.
The solution would seem to be to get the offense back to scoring in bunches. But that’s not a simple button the Dodgers can press, especially against pitchers of Sale’s caliber.
The Dodgers lost all three games in Atlanta by one run.
Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto delivers against the Atlanta Braves in the first inning Thursday.
(Erik S. Lesser / Associated Press)
“It seemed like we were always chasing,” Roberts said. “It’s hard to play from behind. Your margins are much thinner, smaller. And when you don’t capitalize on opportunities, then you come up on the short end. But like I said, they’re a good ballclub. They do things the right way. And we’ll look forward to seeing them in October.”
The Dodgers entered the series riding a six-game winning streak built against the Colorado Rockies and Pittsburgh Pirates. But it’s been a long time since they’ve beaten a good team. In fact, they haven’t won a series against any team that entered Thursday in playoff position since taking two of three from the Philadelphia Phillies from July 20-22.
In the interim, the Dodgers have gone 1-12 against teams in a playoff spot.
“I was thinking about it tonight: The game tests you,” Roberts said. “August is that third leg of a mile, and it’s the hardest leg, and you know we’ve got to get through it and grind. And there’s a new series, a new team. We’ve got [Tarik] Skubal going [Friday against the Detroit Tigers]. We’ve just got to flush it.”
Tucker takes day off
Roberts sat slumping right fielder Kyle Tucker against Sale.
“I didn’t want to feel like I’m piling on against a really tough starter,” Roberts said. “Get him ready for the weekend.”
But Roberts said that wasn’t a reflection of how he’d approach the postseason. If the Dodgers face the Braves in the playoffs, Roberts would expect to start Tucker in right field against Sale.
Roster move
As expected, the Dodgers put right-hander Roki Sasaki on the 15-day injured list because of a blister on the middle finger of his right hand and recalled hard-throwing reliever Seth Halvorsen.
“He’s probably our most rested reliever, and it’s going to come in hot,” Roberts said. “So I’m going to run him out there if the situation calls for it.”
