three-run home run

It was a stressful decision. But it shouldn’t have been so consequential.

In the middle of the fifth inning Tuesday night, Shohei Ohtani returned to the Dodgers’ dugout after a clean inning of work on the mound. Waiting for him at the top step was manager Dave Roberts, who (according to the SportsNet LA television broadcast) wanted to ask how he was feeling.

With any other pitcher, there would have been no such discussion.

Over his five innings against the Philadelphia Phillies, Ohtani had not given up a hit. He had thrown only 68 pitches. And he was flashing the kind of dominance that would have made a no-hitter feel like a real possibility.

Ohtani, however, is not like any other pitcher.

He is a two-way star, coming off a second career Tommy John surgery, who has been managed with kid gloves and Bubble Wrap in his return to pitching duties this year. He started his comeback by pitching one inning, then two, then so on until he built up to five. Weeks ago, the team — in consultation with the reigning MVP — decided to avoid pushing him past the five-inning mark until at least October.

His health, both on the bump and at the plate, remains the priority.

Thus, while Ohtani reportedly told Roberts he still felt good, he laughed and said it was up to the veteran manager to decide whether or not to extend his pitching outing.

Roberts, in a continuation of the team’s careful handling of Ohtani this year, decided against it.

The result, in a continuation of the struggles from the team’s beleaguered bullpen, was disastrous.

After pulling Ohtani with a four-run lead, the Dodgers watched their relief corps melt down in predictable, reminiscent fashion. Justin Wrobleski gave up five consecutive hits with one out in the sixth, including a three-run home run to Brandon Marsh that broke open the inning. Edgardo Henriquez made matters worse, replacing Wrobleski — amid a chorus of boos directed at Roberts — later in the inning only to give up another long ball to Max Kepler.

By the time it was over, the Phillies had scored six runs to take the lead. And though the Dodgers would battle back to tie the score in the eighth, the bullpen faltered again in the ninth, when Blake Treinen gave up a decisive three-run, two-out home run to Rafael Marchán in the Phillies’ eventual 9-6 win.

For the five innings Tuesday, Ohtani displayed utter dominance against the only team to have already clinched a division title.

His fastball was playing up, eclipsing 100 mph seven times and topping out at 101.7 mph. His secondary stuff was electric, a mix of sliders and sweepers and curveballs and splitters that kept the Phillies off balance and able to make only benign contact.

After a two-out walk to Bryce Harper in the first inning, Ohtani retired the final 13 he faced. He got only six total whiffs, but was more pitch-efficient because of it, with his 68 throws coming in 19 shy of his previous season-high (he threw 87 pitches in his only other full five-inning start on Aug. 27).

That’s why, once Ohtani raced back toward the dugout to transition from pitcher to hitter in the middle of the fifth, his removal wasn’t a foregone conclusion. Why, after Roberts conversed with Ohtani from the top step, he found first baseman Freddie Freeman laughing at him back on the bench, sensing the stressfulness of his manager’s decision (which represented the ninth time in Roberts’ Dodgers tenure he had pulled a pitcher from a no-hitter in the fifth inning or later).

By that point, of course, the game shouldn’t have been in danger either way.

The Dodgers had scored three runs in the second inning on home runs from Alex Call and Kiké Hernández. They added another in the fourth off Phillies left-hander Cristopher Sánchez, handing the Cy Young contender just his fourth start this season of more than three earned runs.

But then, a bullpen that had been burned repeatedly in recent weeks (including in a 10-inning loss in the opening game of this series Monday night) played with fire again.

Wrobleski, a rookie left-hander who had been one of the Dodgers’ better relievers of late, had Rafael Marchán break up the no-no with a one-out single, Harrison Bader and Kyle Schwarber to load the bases with two more hits after that, Harper to gap a double that brought two runs across, and Marsh to go deep on a hanging 0-2 slider for a go-ahead three-run shot.

Henriquez, another rookie who had been sharp in limited action this year, yielded another home run to Kepler two batters later.

Just like that, it was 6-4 Phillies.

Ohtani helped the Dodgers get back in the game with his bat. In the eighth, he clobbered a leadoff home run deep to right field for his 50th long ball of the season, making him just the sixth player in MLB history with consecutive 50-homer campaigns.

The Dodgers kept the rally going after that, loading the bases for Call to hit a tying sacrifice fly.

Alas, the Dodgers’ bullpen did what it does best once more in the ninth, coming unglued at the worst possible moment.

After getting two quick outs to start the inning, Treinen gave up a double to Weston Wilson (the No. 7 hitter who entered with a .202 average). He fell behind 3-and-0 to Bryson Stott (the No. 8 hitter) to trigger an intentional walk. Then, in a 3-and-1 count to Marchán (the No. 9 hitter and backup catcher for the Phillies), he served up an inside cutter that Marchán pulled down the line, getting just enough behind it to send it bouncing off the top of the short right-field wall.

Nine painful runs, in four miserable innings of Dodgers relief.

Another loss, that wasted Ohtani’s no-hit (but short-lived) masterpiece.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Bobby Witt Jr. hit a two-out solo home run in the eighth inning and the Kansas City Royals beat the Angels 4-3 on Thursday night to avoid a sweep in a three-game series.

The Royals hit four solo homers in a game where all seven runs came on home runs.

Lucas Erceg (7-4) struck out two in one inning and Carlos Estévez picked up his major league-best 37th save.

Angels starter Kyle Hendricks allowed two runs on three hits in six innings, while Kansas City starter Noah Cameron allowed three runs on five hits in five innings.

The Angels (66-74) got on the board in the first on a three-run homer by Luis Rengifo. With two outs, Taylor Ward singled, Jo Adell walked and Rengifo hit a slider 384 feet down the left-field line.

The Royals (71-69) answered in the second on Adam Frazier’s home run, the 1,000th hit of his MLB career. Vinnie Pasquantino connected on his 29th home run of the season leading off the fourth inning to trim the deficit to 3-2.

The Royals tied it when Salvador Perez hit his 24th home run of the season, leading off the seventh inning.

Ryan Zeferjahn (6-5) took the loss.

Key moment: After the Royals tied the score in the bottom of the seventh, Erceg retired the Angels in order in the eighth.

Key stat: With his home run, Perez reached 495 career RBIs at Kauffman Stadium, breaking a tie with Frank White for the third most RBIs in the history of the ballpark. He trails George Brett (839) and Hal McRae (534).

Up next: The Angels return to start a three-game series with the Athletics. The Angels will send RHP José Soriano (10-9, 3.68 ERA) to the mound to face RHP Mason Barnett (0-1, 11.25).

SAN DIEGO — The Dodgers finally landed a lot of little jabs as an offense Sunday against the San Diego Padres.

And in a pivotal, sweep-evading 8-2 win at Petco Park — which once again tied the two teams for first place in the National League West standings — it allowed their slumping lineup to deliver some badly needed knockout blows.

For the first time this weekend, the Dodgers looked like themselves at the plate.

They bashed four home runs, none bigger than a tie-breaking three-run shot from backup catcher Dalton Rushing in the seventh that ultimately decided the game.

They strung together seven hits and four walks, cracking a Padres pitching staff that had smothered them over the first two games in this rivalry’s final renewal of the season.

Most importantly, however, they did all the little things that have too often gone missing during their recent two-month funk; one in which they’ve ranked 24th in the majors in scoring since the start of July, and let what was once a nine-game lead in the division turn into a dogfight down the stretch.

They extended at-bats. Battled with two strikes. And, at long last, earned the kind of pitches their star-studded roster could wallop.

“For us to come out here and execute as an offense, way better than we did the last couple days, that’s a big boost for us,” said first baseman Freddie Freeman, who had two home runs to help the Dodgers salvage the series finale.

“When you expand the zone, the slugging percentage is going to go down, because pitchers are going to continue to expand,” manager Dave Roberts added. “But when you earn good counts and get good pitches, control the zone, then slug happens. You can’t always chase it. Which, I thought, today we did a really good job of.

Ahead of first pitch, Roberts spoke at length about the team’s recent offensive struggles — following up on his Saturday night critique of the club’s increasingly all-or-nothing approach.

“We haven’t really been in-sync,” Roberts said. “It’s been disjointed a lot, as far as the offense.”

Freddie Freeman, right, is congratulated by third base coach Dino Ebel after hitting a home run in the sixth inning Sunday.

(Derrick Tuskan / Associated Press)

When asked if that meant his team needed to adopt more of a small-ball mentality, however, Roberts pushed back.

“I think it’s a fair question,” he said. “But I couldn’t disagree more.”

After all, his team is still stocked full of All-Stars, MVPs and future Hall of Famers. At their core, they are built to bludgeon opponents — not slap singles and drop down sacrifice bunts.

“Slugging is still a part of it,” he said. “I definitely don’t want guys to hit like I did.”

Around the margins, though, there were ways Roberts felt the Dodgers (74-57) could better position themselves to do that. Like trying to work better counts, stay alive with two strikes, and striking a better balance between patience and aggression.

“I want my cake, and [to] eat it as well,” he quipped, a devilish smile on his face.

“I’d be shocked,” he added, “if we don’t see a different offensive output from here forward, starting today.”

The change started in the first inning, with the Dodgers putting Padres starter Nick Pivetta under immediate stress.

Shohei Ohtani drew a five-pitch leadoff walk. Mookie Betts shortened up his swing on an 0-and-2 slider to line a single up the middle. Freeman loaded the bases by grinding out a full-count free pass.

It was a string of small victories, that provided cleanup hitter Teoscar Hernández the perfect chance to slug.

Hernández tried to, getting a fastball over the plate in a 3-and-1 count and launching a deep fly ball that seemed destined to be a grand slam. The drive, however, hung up just enough for Ramón Laureano to rob it at the wall.

The sacrifice fly brought in the Dodgers’ only run of the inning — giving them a 1-0 lead that would soon be erased on Elias Díaz’s two-run homer in the third off Yoshinobu Yamamoto (the only runs he allowed in a six-inning start).

Dodgers starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto delivers against the Padres in the first inning Sunday.

(Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)

Still, it set the tone for a flurry of offense that would follow, when a weekend of non-existent offense finally started to turn.

“Getting the guys on and scoring in that first inning was huge,” Freeman sad. “Even though we could have got more out of it, just getting one run across was a good boost for us coming off the last couple games.”

In the sixth, Freeman hit his first home run of the day, crushing another center-cut fastball from Pivetta to right-center for a tying blast.

Then, against Padres reliever Jeremiah Estrada in the seventh, the club put all the pieces together in a five-run rally.

Andy Pages rolled a single through the left side to lead off. Michael Conforto came up next, fouled off a full-count slider, then took a borderline fastball at the top of the zone for a stress-inducing walk.

Miguel Rojas couldn’t get a bunt down after that, eventually swinging away for a fly out to center.

But, in what was easily his best moment of a trying rookie season, Rushing connected on the fatal blow seven pitches later — resetting after a bad first strike call, fouling off his own two-strike slider to keep the at-bat alive, then clobbering another slider to right for his go-ahead three-run homer.

“When I’m in the box and I get put in a hole, it’s almost like, ‘All right, I’m going to find my way out,’” said Rushing, who entered the day batting just .184 with two home runs. “I kind of played the game with him. He threw every pitch that he had, and I was totally banking on just being able to put a good swing on the ball whatever he threw.”

“I think today,” Roberts added, “was a big step in the right direction for him.”

The same, of course, was true of the Dodgers’ entire offense — which also got a second homer from Freeman later in the seventh, then another when Ohtani belted his 45th homer of the season in the ninth.

They got back to doing the little things right. They reeled off one big swing after another as a result.

“Today was more indicative of what we’re going to do, we expect, going forward,” Roberts said. “The fight, the grind, taking what the pitcher is giving you — and then if there’s slug there, it’s there. Just the byproduct of good at-bats all day.”

There was rain, lightning and some comedic reactions for the strange June weather Tuesday that disrupted the opening day of the Southern California regional baseball and softball playoffs.

“Is it raining in June?” asked a stunned El Camino Real baseball player as a downpour fell in Woodland Hills before a Division 2 game against Point Loma. Two fans used artificial turf to shield their heads during a drizzle.

The Division 1 baseball game between Patrick Henry and host Santa Margarita was halted in the fourth inning with Patrick Henry leading 2-0 because of lightning. It will resume Wednesday. The Division 1 softball game between Poway and Ayala was postponed because of rain.

Most games eventually were played and finished.

Point Loma 6, El Camino Real 4: Trailing 6-1 going into the bottom of the seventh inning, the City Section Open Division champions gave Point Loma a scare, scoring three runs and having the bases loaded with two out until Hunter Weller ended the game with a strikeout in a Division 2 opener. Point Loma is the Division I champion from the San Diego Section.

Druw Frost had three hits. A three-run seventh aided by an El Camino Real error helped the Pointers. Phoenix Brant struck out five in 6 1/3 innings. RJ De La Rosa, JJ Saffie and Gavin Farley had RBI singles in the seventh for El Camino Real.

St. John Bosco 2, St. Augustine 1: Jack Champlin picked up the save after strong pitching from Griffin Tagliaferri and Brayden Krakowski. Moise Razo gave the Braves the lead in the third with an RBI double. St. John Bosco will host Villa Park on Thursday in the Division I semifinals.

Villa Park 5, Granite Hills 4: It took nine innings for Villa Park to prevail on the road. Nate Lewis had four hits and three RBIs, including the tiebreaker in the top of the ninth.

Crespi 4, Mater Dei 3: Mikey Martinez hit a three-run home run and Jackson Eisenhauer threw two hits of shutout relief with four strikeouts. Crespi will play the winner of Santa Margarita-Patrick Henry on Thursday.

University City 5, Birmingham 2: The Patriots gave up four runs in the seventh to fall in a Division III opener. University City will play Dos Pueblos, a 10-2 winner over St. Anthony.

Venice 5, Trinity Classical 2: Canon King had a double and triple and Daniel Quiroz added two hits and two RBIs for Venice, which will play at Mt. Carmel on Thursday.

Banning 3, Lemoore 2: The Pilots won their Division IV opener. Angelo Duarte had a walk-off single in the seventh. AJ Herrera had two hits and two RBIs.

Softball

Westlake 5, Rancho Bernardo 3: The Warriors won in Division II and will host Eastlake in the semifinals. Olivia White had a home run.

Legacy 5, Elsinore 4: Isabella Medina had two doubles in the Division III win. Breann Lipold hit two home runs for Elsinore. Legacy will play at St. Bonaventure, a 6-5 win over Southwest EC.

Leave it up to Seth Hernandez of top-seeded Corona High to find a way to impress the many pro baseball scouts attending Tuesday’s Southern Section Division 1 playoff opener with not just his arm but his bat.

He hit two three-run home runs to help Corona defeat Los Osos 11-2. Corona trailed 2-0 into the third inning until the Panthers started going deep. First was a home run by Jesiah Andrade. Then Hernandez started sending balls over the fence. He also struck out 10 and walked one in six innings.

Seth Hernandez of Corona celebrates his second three-run home run.

(Nick Koza)

Corona advances to play Big VIII rival Norco in Friday’s quarterfinals.

Norco 4, Laguna Beach 2: Dylan Seward had three hits and four RBIs while Landon Hovermale threw a complete game.

Crespi 5, El Dorado 2: The Celts rallied for four runs in the sixth inning. Diego Velazquez had a two-run double. Jackson Eisenhauer threw a complete game, striking out seven. Crespi will play Mira Costa in the quarterfinals.

Mira Costa 5, Arcadia 4: An RBI double by Joaquin Scholer in the fifth inning broke a 4-4 tie. He finished with two doubles.

Los Alamitos 8, Orange Lutheran 0: Tyler Smith drove in four runs and three pitchers combined on a five-hit shutout to eliminate the Lancers. Los Alamitos will play Santa Margarita on Friday.

Santa Margarita 6, Huntington Beach 5: Chase Marlow singled in the go-ahead run in the seventh inning to give the Eagles an upset over Sunset League champion Huntington Beach. Brennan Bauer struck out four in 4 1/3 innings of relief.

Villa Park 8, Aquinas 2: Jake Nobles struck out five with no walks over five innings and Val Lopez had three hits and two RBIs. Villa Park will play St. John Bosco on Friday.

St. John Bosco 5, Vista Murrieta 4: Noah Everly had three hits and two RBIs while Miles Clark homered for the Braves, who rallied with a three-run sixth inning.

West Ranch 12, Crean Lutheran 0: Mikey Murr and Matt Castellon combined on a no-hitter in Division 2.

Sultana 6, Loyola 5: The Cubs dropped the Division 2 game on an error in the ninth inning.

Servite 12, Anaheim Canyon 1: Tomas Cernius hit a three-run home run and Michael Cabral had four RBIs. Servite will play Etiwanda in the Division 2 quarterfinals.

Etiwanda 6, Gahr 1: Angel Mejia finished with four RBIs and Nico Hamilton threw six innings for the Eagles.

Torrance 3, Oaks Christian 2: Mateo Rickman hit a three-run home run to power Torrance, which will face Fountain Valley on Friday.

Fountain Valley 7, Trabuco Hills 0: Josh Grack threw the shutout and also contributed two RBIs.

Foothill 3, San Clemente 2: Ezekiel Vargas and Aidan Colburn each had two hits for Foothill, which plays Mater Dei on Friday.

Mater Dei 6, Simi Valley 4: The Monarchs eliminated second-seeded Simi Valley by scoring six runs in the top of the seventh inning. Brady Guth hit a three-run home run.

Andrew Friedman gave a longer answer Sunday morning when asked about the Dodgers’ recent — and, by the feel of it, familiar — pitching woes so far this year, the club’s president of baseball operations bemoaning another wave of injuries that has left the pitching staff shorthanded.

But the gist of his answer was in the two words he uttered at the start of it.

“Not fun,” he said.

In the Dodgers’ 6-4 loss to the Angels later in the day, it became even less so.

As things currently stand, Tony Gonsolin is effectively the No. 2 pitcher in the Dodgers’ rotation, thrust into such a prominent role with Tyler Glasnow, Blake Snell and Roki Sasaki injured. But in a four-run, four-inning start, Gonsolin was derailed by his own physical issue, battling a bloody hand in a three-run first inning that put the Dodgers behind the eight ball.

The Dodgers rallied, erasing what grew to a 4-0 deficit on Shohei Ohtani’s RBI single in the fifth and Will Smith’s tying three-run home run in the seventh. But then a banged-up bullpen gave the Angels the lead right back, with Travis d’Arnaud going deep in the eighth against Anthony Banda — himself forced into a high-leverage role lately, despite a disappointing start to the year, because of injuries to Blake Treinen, Evan Phillips and Kirby Yates (who became the latest pitcher to hit the injured list on Sunday with a hamstring strain he suffered the night before).

Angels center fielder Kyren Paris, right, narrowly avoids colliding with left fielder Taylor Ward after making a catch on a fly ball in the seventh inning Sunday.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Friedman argued the Dodgers’ injury problems this year don’t compare to the dire straits they navigated en route to last year’s World Series title. Unlike then, the team hasn’t suffered any season-ending losses. In the big picture, they remain confident they’ll have enough depth to mount a title defense.

And yet, the team hasn’t discovered the secret to better health. Their rotation problems are giving the bullpen an unsustainably grueling workload. And figuring out how to better protect the club’s expensive stable of arms is “by far the No. 1 thing that keeps me up at night,” Friedman said.

“I mean, everything from my brain is about what we can do, like, how we can solve this,” Friedman added, the self-described “deep dive” the organization took into pitching injuries this offseason having yet to yield better results. “It’s like a game of Whack-a-Mole, and things keep popping up. … The definition of enough depth, I think is a fool’s errand. I don’t know what enough depth means. I think more is always better with pitching depth.”

But, with the team now ranking 21st in the majors with a 4.22 team ERA, what they have currently certainly isn’t enough.

Dodgers pitcher Tony Gonsolin can’t field a ball hit by the Angels’ Luis Rengifo in the second inning Sunday.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

After Gonsolin gave up a leadoff home run to Zach Neto on a sunny afternoon at Dodger Stadium, trainers came to the mound to check on the right-hander. As they examined his throwing hand, the television broadcast zoomed in on streaks of blood covering the backside of his pants.

While Gonsolin’s exact problem wasn’t immediately clear, the right-hander’s struggle to command the baseball quickly became obvious. With one out, he walked Yoán Moncada, looking visibly uncomfortable as he sprayed the ball wide of the zone. In a 2-and-0 count to his next batter, Taylor Ward, Gonsolin threw a fastball over the heart of the plate. Ward crushed it for a two-run homer.

Gonsolin settled down from there, giving up just one more run the rest of the way. But his pitch count never got back under control, requiring 97 total throws to complete the fourth.

It was already the 14th time in 47 games this season that a Dodgers starter failed to work into the fifth.

All those short starts have had a cascading effect on the bullpen. And pitchers such as Banda have had to compensate as a result.

Sunday’s outing marked Banda’s 21st appearance this year, becoming the fifth Dodgers reliever to reach that mark. Entering the day, no other team had more than three.

After pitching a clean seventh inning, Banda returned for the eighth and was bitten again by a common problem. In a 3-and-1 count against d’Arnaud, he threw a center-cut sinker that d’Arnaud crushed to left. It was Banda’s fifth home run yielded this year, tying the total he gave up in 48 appearances over all of last year. And this time, the Dodgers couldn’t answer back, getting tripped up by pitching problems again en route to the Angels’ first three-game Freeway Series sweep since 2010.

Dodgers second baseman Miguel Rojas shouts in frustration after striking out against the Angels in the seventh inning Sunday.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

With UCLA’s bats quiet early, Kaitlyn Terry stepped into the batter’s box looking to ignite a two-out rally — and with one swing she brought the Bruins to life.

Terry, a right fielder and left-handed pitcher, hit a three-run home run in the second inning to jump-start UCLA’s 9-1 win over UC Santa Barbara in six innings in the opening round of the Los Angeles Regional on Friday.

The No. 9 Bruins (50–10) advanced to Game 3 of the regional, where they’ll face the winner of Arizona State and San Diego State at 2 p.m. PDT Saturday.

Before the season, coach Kelly Inouye-Perez stressed that a UCLA championship push had to start with securing a regional at Easton Stadium — and taking care of business once there.

UCLA is chasing its ninth Women’s College World Series berth in the past decade, but early on Friday, the path looked shaky. Instead of a confident march into the postseason opener, it felt like déjà vu for a moment — a flashback to the haunting 2023 regional, when the Bruins dropped their first game and ultimately fell short of a trip to Oklahoma City.

The Bruins squandered early opportunities uncharacteristic of the nation’s No. 2 run-scoring lineup.

Trailing in the second inning, Alexis Ramirez reached base on a hit up the middle, then stole second. After advancing on a groundout, she was caught in a rundown between third and home. Still, UCLA had a chance to even the score with runners on first and second, but Terry flied out to end the inning.

UCLA pitcher Taylor Tinsley delivers against UC Santa Barbara in the Los Angeles Regional on Friday.

(Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Times)

Terry found herself in a similar situation two innings later, and she delivered.

With two outs in the fourth, Kaniya Bragg reached first on a hit-by-pitch. Batting for the first time this season, Taylor Stephens followed with a slow roller into right field — just soft enough for Bragg to beat the tag at third while Stephens stepped onto second.

On the next pitch, Terry crushed a home run to center field.

Taylor Tinsley, an All-Big Ten first team selection, gave up three hits and one walk while striking out one. Her only blemish came in the second inning, when she gave up a run on an RBI single by UCSB catcher Delaina Ma’ae.

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1. UCLA’s Jordan Woolery fields the ball at third base against UC Santa Barbara on Friday. 2. UCLA infielder Kaniya Bragg fields the ball. 3. UCLA’s Megan Grant celebrates after hitting a game-ending home run in the sixth inning. (Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Times)

A pair of home runs in the sixth inning ended the game via the mercy rule. Jessica Clements hit a three-run home run. That was followed by a walk and steal from Savannah Pola, who was driven in by Jordan Woolery’s RBI single. Megan Grant ended the game with a two-run blast to left-center field.

UCLA, which finished its first season in the Big Ten tied for second with Nebraska, has won 26 games by mercy rule this season.