Shohei Ohtani, Justin Wrobleski lead Dodgers past Rays

LOS ANGELES — On a night when he did not set foot on the mound, Shohei Ohtani still made an impact on a pitchers’ duel.

Ohtani disrupted a scoreless deadlock with a solo home run on the first pitch of the bottom of the sixth inning, and the Dodgers finished off a 1-0 victory over the Tampa Bays as their run of success at home continued.

A bullpen that had wobbled during the recent road trip to Pittsburgh and Chicago, locked down the final three innings as the Dodgers (47-27) improved to 11-2 at home since May 13. They earned their ninth shutout of the season and their major league-best 47th win of the season.

The trio of Will Klein, Kyle Hurt and Tanner Scott backed up left-hander Justin Wrobleski who gave up just three singles over six scoreless innings. It was Wrobleski’s second outing of six scoreless innings over his last three starts.

The crisp 1-hour, 52-minute game still had plenty to savor thanks to Ohtani.

“Obviously it was a very fast game; the pace of play was great,” Manager Dave Roberts said. “There was a rhythm to it. And (Rays starter Drew) Rasmussen is a very good pitcher. We don’t see him too often, but this guy is an elite pitcher. And for us to find a way, Shohei hitting a homer, for us to win an old-school baseball game, 1-0, under two hours, really fun baseball game to be part of.”

The sixth starter when the season began, Wrobleski did not even get his first turn in the rotation until the second week of the season. He has not looked back, improving to 8-2 while lowering his ERA to 2.72.

With Tuesday’s start, Wrobleski started on four days of rest for the first time this season. He is just the second Dodgers pitcher to start on four days’ rest after Emmet Sheehan did it earlier this season.

Both occasions allowed Ohtani to push a start back one day.

“My goal is just to go out there and pitch until they take the ball away from me,” Wrobleski said when asked about the shorter stretch between starts. “… I’m aware they’re going to try to protect me, and this organization especially does a great job to protect your arm and keep you ready for September baseball and October. I think they do a great job of that.”

Because Wrobleski was on the short stretch of rest, Roberts limited his outing to 67 pitches.

“I think he had five (strikeouts), which was great, but there was just some hard contact in there,” Roberts said. “So I think for me, you got to the teeth part of the lineup, and I just felt that with the short rest, he did his job.”

Ohtani’s home run in the sixth was the only mistake made by Rasmussen, who was on a 19-inning scoreless streak when the game’s lone run scored.

“Anytime you get to face one of the guys that’s one of the top guys in the league – and I think he is that right now – I think he’s a really, really good pitcher – you kind of get excited,” Wrobleski said of his matchup against the Tampa Bay right-hander. “And I love the competition, trying to go out there and match zeros with guys like that. So, yeah, it was a really good time, and he pitched really well too.”

Klein got off to a dubious start to his outing in the seventh inning with a walk to Junior Caminero, but Ryan Vilade fouled out and Ben Williamson grounded to second base for a nifty double play on the pivot from shortstop Mookie Betts.

Hurt was all business in the eighth, ending his outing by getting Taylor Walls to strike out looking. All 10 of Hurt’s pitches in the inning were strikes.

Scott earned his ninth save with a perfect 11-pitch ninth inning that included a pair of strikeouts.

Ohtani might have developed a case of left knee inflammation from a start on the mound in Pittsburgh last week, but the discomfort has not impacted his power game. Since last Wednesday’s game against the Pirates, Ohtani has four of his 15 home runs on the season, and he didn’t even play in Friday’s game against the White Sox.

“That’s just him,” Wrobleski said of Ohtani. “He’s obviously the best player of all time. I’m super lucky and blessed to be his teammate and watch him play. It’s been super cool.”

Through all of his heroics, Ohtani still tries to direct compliments toward him into acclaim for the group.

“I take it as a team approach,” Ohtani said through interpreter Will Ireton, on the SportsNet LA broadcast. “There are days when other guys pick me up, or pick other people up, so it’s really like when everybody does their job, things go well.”

Ohtani’s two-way duties will require him to pitch in Wednesday afternoon’s series finale against the Rays.

Tampa Bay (41-29) has not found Southern California to its liking. The Rays are 1-4 against the Angels and Dodgers since Friday and are in danger of getting swept in a three-game series for the second time this month.

The Rays also were held scoreless in an 8-0 loss to the Angels on Saturday night.

“My goal is to go out there and pitch til’ they take the ball away from me.”

Justin Wrobleski (W (8-2), 6.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, 67 P) talks with the media after the #Dodgers 1-0 win over the Rays. pic.twitter.com/30P8Kv5XSK

— SportsNet LA (@SportsNetLA) June 17, 2026