By ASSOCIATED PRESS
MIAMI (AP) — Jesús Sánchez doubled twice and drove in three runs, and the Miami Marlins beat Shohei Ohtani and the NL West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers, 11-9, on Tuesday night, Sept. 17.
Ohtani struck out three times but hit his 48th home run as he tries to become the first player in MLB history to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in a season. He did not steal a base for the fifth straight game and remains at 48.
All eyes have been on the star as he tries to reach the historic mark. Fans at the Marlins’ home stadium cheered his name all evening, but Ohtani said he doesn’t necessarily feel any pressure.
“No pressure, just trying to maintain quality at-bats regardless of the situation,” he said. “It is something I’ve been trying to do over the course of the entire season.”
Sánchez went 5 for 5, while Otto López and Jake Burger homered for the Marlins.
Burger’s home run was a two-run shot in the eighth that made it 11-7 and gave the Marlins a needed cushion, as Max Muncy brought the Dodgers within two on a two-run double off Jesús Tinoco in the ninth.
“Any time you’re playing that lineup, you feel like no lead is safe no matter what,” Burger said. “It doesn’t matter how good our pitching is, it’s just one of those things that when you have Shohei Ohtani at the top of their lineup, there’s a chance that a three-run home run can put them in striking distance.”
Connor Norby became the first Marlin with four runs scored in a single game this season. He went 2 for 3 with a single, double and two walks. Kyle Stowers had an RBI triple in the fourth and added a run-scoring double in the sixth for the Marlins, who had 15 hits.
Muncy singled in a run, doubled and stole a base earlier in the game for the Dodgers, who began the day 3 1/2 games ahead of second-place San Diego, which was set to play Houston later Tuesday.
The Dodgers are currently the NL’s No. 2 seed behind Philadelphia. Manager Dave Roberts said last week there was a “slim” chance of Ohtani pitching in the postseason, but Ohtani said Tuesday he hasn’t yet discussed taking the mound.
“There was no conversation that was brought about with the pitching coach in terms of pitching in the postseason,” he said. “But we’re going to have a meeting back in LA to discuss the overall rehab progression.”
Ohtani has not pitched this season — his first with the Dodgers — after elbow surgery.
Reliever Anthony Veneziano picked up his first major league win after striking out two and allowing one hit over 1 1/3 inning.
The Marlins scored four runs in the first two innings off starter Bobby Miller, who was lifted after allowing seven hits with a walk and two strikeouts. The Dodgers responded with a four-run third jumpstarted by Ohtani’s two-run shot against starter Darren McCaughan that he crushed 402 feet to right.
“I don’t want to see him at the plate, ever,” Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said of Ohtani. “We made some really good pitches. … He hit one a long way. He’s hit a lot of them a long way this year. Those are going to happen at times. When there’s nobody on base it’s better.”
Michael Grove (4-4) took the loss after relieving Miller in the third and giving up a go-ahead RBI double to Sánchez in the fourth that made it 6-5. Sánchez then scored on Stowers’ triple, and the Marlins didn’t relinquish their lead from there.
“They’re a really strong team,” Sánchez said. “There’s no doubt about that. That’s the truth. What we did was execute our game plan, and we did it very well.”
McCaughan pitched 3 2/3 innings, surrendering six hits, five runs and striking out four. Miguel Rojas also homered off McCaughan in the fourth that tied it at five.
