Shohei Ohtani rallies Dodgers past Tigers to snap four-game losing streak

It wasn’t exactly the blueprint the Dodgers had in mind.

An early deficit. A rookie reliever pitching late in a tied game. A couple end-of-bench bats taking key plate appearances in the ninth.

But when it mattered most Friday night, in the Dodgers’ bid to end a four-game losing streak and build some momentum going into next week’s All-Star break, they had exactly who they wanted at the plate.

In a 4-3 win over the Detroit Tigers, Shohei Ohtani delivered the decisive hit.

When Ohtani came to the plate in the ninth inning Friday, he was scuffling like much of the rest of the Dodgers’ banged-up lineup.

He was hitless on the night and just seven for 32 over his last nine games. During that time, the Dodgers offense had started to slump, managing only seven total runs during their four-game losing streak — including five in a three-game sweep to the Philadelphia Phillies this week.

However, with a thunderous swing and deep fly ball to center, Ohtani sent the Dodgers to a much-needed victory at Comerica Park, breaking the 3-3 with a go-ahead ground-rule double.

“It was just really important to win the first game of the series and finish strong as we’re wrapping up the first half and heading into the All-Star break,” Ohtani said through his interpreter afterward. “It was an important game.”

Indeed, the significance of Friday’s result was evident in the way Dave Roberts managed leading up to Ohtani’s go-ahead hit.

Early on, the Dodgers got a poor performance from starting pitcher James Paxton, who gave up three runs in fewer than four innings while walking four batters and striking out just one.

They also managed little against Tigers ace and American League Cy Young front-runner Tarik Skubal, scoring just two runs in his six-inning start to find themselves trailing 3-2 late.

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Despite that, Roberts made his first unorthodox move in the bottom of the sixth, summoning closer Evan Phillips well before the ninth inning.

Roberts had his reasoning: Phillips hadn’t pitched in six days, and the manager wanted to ensure he faced a leverage situation as he knocked off some rust.

However, when Roberts turned to typical set-up man Blake Treinen in the seventh — with his team still down a run — it reflected the overall urgency with which he was treating the game.

“I was trying to shorten the game,” Roberts said, explaining that he turned to his highest-leverage relievers early in hopes it would keep his offense within striking distance for a late comeback.

“[I was] not wanting to, essentially, wave the white flag too soon,” Roberts added.

And, right on cue, his slumping offense responded.

In the eighth inning, Will Smith, Freddie Freeman (who had a home run earlier in the night off Skubal) and Teoscar Hernández strung together consecutive two-out singles to tie the score — with Hernández, in his latest clutch moment of the season, staving off an 0-and-2 count to bounce the game-tying hit the other way through the infield.

“We played little ball today, besides Freddie’s homer,” said Hernández, whose 61 RBIs this season trail only Ohtani for the team lead. “Fight every at-bat, every pitch, trying to get the job done.”

The game took another unexpected turn in the bottom of the eighth. With Phillips and Treinen already burned, and the team’s only other available leverage arm, Daniel Hudson, being saved for the ninth, Roberts turned the tie score over to Michael Petersen, a 30-year-old rookie making just his eighth career appearance.

The inning didn’t start well, with Petersen walking the leadoff batter and then committing a balk.

But, against the bottom half of Detroit’s order, the right-hander settled down. He struck out Jake Rogers. He got Javier Báez to fly out. Then he induced a grounder from Gio Urshela, stranding the runner at second to set up the Dodgers’ heroics in the ninth.

“I give the bullpen a ton of credit for picking up five-plus innings or whatever it was,” said Roberts, who also got four big outs from Yohan Ramírez earlier in the night. “They did a tremendous job.”

Two more unsung heroes emerged before the night was through.

With one out in the ninth, Roberts left Chris Taylor in the game for a right-on-right pitching match-up against Tigers reliever Jason Foley. The result: a ground-ball single that got the rally going.

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In the next at-bat, Roberts pinch-hit James Outman for Miguel Vargas — only to change course again when the Tigers summoned a lefty, Tyler Holton, from the bullpen.

By that point, the Dodgers’ last remaining right-handed batter was backup catcher Austin Barnes, who doesn’t typically pinch-hit in case he’s later needed behind the plate.

This time, though, Roberts rolled the dice. He knew the team’s bullpen would be thin in extra innings. He sensed an opportunity to strike in the ninth.

“Essentially,” Roberts said, “you’re trying to find a way to win the game right there.”

It worked, with Barnes flaring a single to center two batters before Ohtani’s decisive drive.

Usually, Roberts steers away from managing so aggressively; an organizational concession that, for a first-place team with a large division lead, not every game needs to be treated like a must-win.

Friday’s “math,” though, was different, Roberts said.

Because they were swept by the Phillies this week. Because of the wave of recent injuries that have wreaked havoc on their roster. And because of their desire to rebound before next week’s All-Star break.

A win Friday, he said with a smile before first pitch, “would be a great remedy” to the team’s recent woes.

Once it was secured, in a more dramatic fashion than even he could’ve imagined, Roberts sat in his office postgame, smiling again.

“Across the board, we got the hits that we were hoping for,” he said with a sigh of relief. “It just comes with the fight I know we have.”

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.