The Dodgers couldn’t have asked for better timing, as Shohei Ohtani’s leadoff spot came back around.
In a game the Dodgers would go on to win 8-6 over the Pirates, they were clinging to a two-run lead in the top of the seventh inning against the Pirates on Thursday. With one out and runners on first and second, the Dodgers superstar, who had already reached base four times, was due up.
Instead, Santiago Espinal stepped up to the plate as a pinch-hitter.
Ohtani left the game with inflammation in his left knee, the Dodgers announced.
“Just wanted to be smart and not push it,” manager Dave Roberts said. “So I feel good about him being in there [Friday]. But obviously with the travel [to Chicago Thursday night], we’ll just kind of see how he comes in.”
Roberts described the injury as “discomfort” at the back of Ohtani’s knee, around where the hamstring attaches. Though Ohtani underwent surgery on the same knee in 2019, that was to address bipartite patella, on the other side of the knee.
It was not clear exactly how Ohtani hurt his knee Thursday. Ohtani was not available after the game to provide his account.
Roberts speculated that it likely happened when Ohtani took off to steal second in the fourth inning, before a foul ball sent him back.
“Didn’t hear about it last night,” Roberts said. “Didn’t hear about it today until about the sixth.”
Before leaving, Ohtani hit a solo home run — his second homer in as many games — a single and drew two walks.
It was an impressive performance, coming a day after he took on two-way duties. On the mound Wednesday, he allowed three earned runs in 6⅔ innings.
He’s been on an offensive tear. He entered Thursday with a .400 batting average and 1.207 OPS in his last 25 games — dating back to May 12, the day before manager Dave Roberts gave him two consecutive days off from hitting.
“[Friday], he’ll get there, do his routine, play catch, push off, land on it, see how it reacts,” Roberts said. “And then obviously take swings and see how it reacts too.”
Ohtani was one of two members of the Dodgers starting rotation who left the game injured.
Earlier in the game Thursday, Dodgers starting pitcher Justin Wrobleski exited with a bruised right hamstring. But Roberts and Wroblkeski both said they don’t expect it to impact his next start.
The fifth inning had already begun to spiral on him. After throwing four scoreless innings, he surrendered two solo home runs to Rafael Flores Jr. (the first of his major-league career) and Brandon Lowe.
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Then Bryan Reynolds hit a line-drive comebacker off the inside of Wrobleski’s right leg. The ball ricocheted to the edge of the infield grass, where first baseman Freddie Freeman picked it up.
Wrobleski was already racing toward first base. But after turning to catch the throw, he missed the base and stumbled backward into Reynolds, who tripped over Wrobleski’s extended left foot.
“Thankfully he kind of got out of the way enough that we barely touched each other,” Wrobleski said. “He’s okay. I’m okay. So all’s good there.”
Wrobleski limped away, finally able to react to the pain where the ball hit him. An athletic trainer followed him, circling back to the mound. But as he was setting up to throw a warm-up pitch, Roberts came out to make a pitching change.
Wrobleski was charged with four runs in 4 ⅔ innings. He gave up six hits and a pair of walks.
“Just one of those outings where I didn’t feel I threw it that great,” Wrobleski said. “It happens. That’s part of the game. That’s what keeps you coming back. I didn’t feel I had the command I usually have, especially early in counts and I think it cost me.”
The Dodgers bullpen bent but did not break, with the help of late-inning insurance runs from the offense. Right-hander Tanner Scott recorded the final four outs, striking out the side in the ninth.
With the win, the Dodgers secured a series victory at PNC Park for the first time since 2021.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
