The complete game — the Dodgers get excellence from all sides in rout

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Teoscar Hernández and Shohei Ohtani celebrate after Ohtani’s leadoff home run on Tuesday. (Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers)
by Cary Osborne

They hit. They hit for power. They walked. They stole bases.

This was one of the most complete offensive performances from the Dodgers all season.

It’s also a game that they’ve been searching for for most of the season — a complete game on both sides with pitching as well in the Dodgers’ 15–2 victory against the Marlins on Tuesday at Dodger Stadium.

“From the beginning of the season, it was like one side or another,” said right fielder Teoscar Hernández, who went 4-for-5 with four RBI. “If the pitching was there, we didn’t hit. Or when we hit, the pitching wasn’t there. So today was the first game that I remember that everything was working out from all over — pitching, defense, baserunning, hitting, everything.”

So while the Dodgers scored a season-high 15 runs and had a season-best 18 hits, they also limited the opposition to two runs with an unlikely pitching savior in Matt Sauer.

Sauer, recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City on Tuesday to hopefully give a taxed bullpen some relief, gave the Dodgers five innings, and allowed one run.

Sauer came into the game with a career 7.50 ERA in 18 Major League innings. The 26-year-old, who followed opener Jack Dreyer in the third inning, didn’t allow a run until his fifth inning of work.

“I can’t say enough about his performance,” said manager Dave Roberts. “He got his first Major League win, which was great. And to chew up five innings was big, efficient. We needed every bit of it considering where our pen’s at, the leverage guys, and with another game to play, then going into 10 in a row. So what Matt did today picked us big time.”

Now, onto the offense, which put on a show from the first pitch — a Shohei Ohtani leadoff home run against Marlins starting pitcher Sandy Alcantara.

The Dodgers battered the 2022 National League Cy Young Award winner, knocking him out of the game in the third inning after touching him up for seven runs.

The Dodger starting 2–5 in the lineup — Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, Teoscar Hernández and Will Smith — went a combined 9-for-14 with eight RBI and six runs scored.

The Dodgers walked eight times, struck out five times, stole a season-high four stolen bases, collected eight extra-base hits (including a home run from Andy Pages) and went 11-for-19 with runners in scoring position.

Ohtani’s leadoff homer sparked a three-run first inning after the Dodgers trailed 1–0 heading into their first ups.

It was Ohtani’s first home run since April 16, and first homer since he became a father on April 19.

Ohtani is 7 for his last 15 with four extra-base hits and five walks over his last four games. It has taken his OPS from .834 to .942.

Ohtani said, unsurprisingly, that sleep has been different as a new father, and his routine has been altered. But he’s starting to feel comfortable and balanced in the batter’s box.

“It was a good home run to get, to get back on the board for this game,” Ohtani said. “Having (now) hit once since being a father, it’s a really nice one to be able to do that.”

The game was a laugher — so much so that the other Hernández — Kiké — finished the game on the mound pitching … with a helmet on.

He ended the game getting Javier Sonoja to pop up. The Marlins outfielder pitched the bottom of the eighth inning.