LOS ANGELES — It was shaping up as a joyous evening for Dodger fans Saturday night. Teoscar Hernández and L.A.’s newest civic hero, Freddie Freeman had slammed back-to-back home runs off of Carlos Rodón in the third to turn a 1-1 tie into a 4-1 lead. Yoshinobu Yamamoto was playing the role of Yankee-killer – producing a dominant 6⅓ innings, after he had shut down the Yanks for seven in June in the Bronx. And the Dodgers were about to go up 2-0 in this World Series.
And then Shohei Ohtani lay in the dirt at second base, caught trying to steal to end the seventh inning – and, worse, holding his left arm in obvious pain, finally leaving the field escorted by a trainer.
If there were ever an “uh-oh” moment, a potential series-turning (or, if you’re a Dodger fan, stomach-turning) moment, this would have been it.
“Not only the dugout, but the whole stadium went silent,” outfielder Teoscar Hernández said. “You know how big Shohei is for this team. … A lot of things go through your head, but you just have to stay positive and think like maybe he jammed his hand and he’ll be back on Monday when we start the game in New York.”
It originally looked like Ohtani hurt his left elbow, maybe hyperextending it. But according to Fox’s Ken Rosenthal, he injured his shoulder. Manager Dave Roberts elaborated later:
“He had a little left shoulder subluxation. … We’re going to get some tests at some point tonight (or) tomorrow, and then we’ll know more in the next couple of days. But the strength was great, the range of motion good, so we’re encouraged. But obviously I can’t speculate because we don’t (have) the scans yet. Once we get the scans, we’ll know more.”
Subluxation is a partial dislocation, and that description is scary enough. Right now, the mood among the Dodgers seems to be hope that he’ll be in the lineup Monday night in Yankee Stadium for Game 3, but for now there’s not much hard information to go on.
Either way, a team that already has had to battle through a siege of injuries – mainly but not exclusively pitchers – will possibly have to deal with one more at the worst possible time, depending on the severity. They lost All-Star Mookie Betts to a broken bone in his hand for a good chunk of June and July. Freeman had a fracture of his finger at one point, and has been operating with one bad ankle for most of the last month.
And, of course, what’s left of their starting rotation is gamely hanging on – and got a serious boost Saturday night with Yamamoto getting into the seventh.
“I mean, we have a great group of guys in here, and we can take care of business for sure,” no matter which next man is up, Betts said.
Of course, if you believe in the Shakespearean concept of the past as prologue, consider – again – 1988. Those Dodgers landed the first blow in Game 1 against Oakland thanks to Kirk Gibson, much as the current Dodgers did to the Yankees on Friday night with Freeman’s walk-off grand slam.
But those ’88 Dodgers kept losing players to injury during the course of the World Series – John Tudor, Mike Marshall, Mike Scioscia – yet still vanquished the heavily favored A’s in five games. At one point they fielded what NBC’s Bob Costas referred to as one of the weakest lineups ever to start a World Series game. It was true, but it was also a rallying point, and Manager Tom Lasorda played it up for all it was worth.
Yes, this is admittedly kind of a thin thread. All these years later it’s a different game, different conditions, and a different, equally substantial opponent in these Yankees. But those Dodgers had a powerful, stubborn belief that nothing could derail them. These Dodgers have shown a similar disregard for adversity to this point.
Asked if he and his teammates were confident if they were forced to play without Ohtani for a game or two, Hernández answered: “Oh, yeah, a thousand percent.
“We were battling throughout the year with a lot of injuries,” he continued. “First was the starting (pitchers) and then Mookie and then Freddie. And hopefully not Ohtani in this case. It’s not going to be a good feeling, but if he can’t go on Monday, we just have to keep doing the thing we’ve been doing for the past couple weeks.”
The left shoulder is Ohtani’s back shoulder as a hitter. Roberts said “in a vacuum, (an injury to) the left shoulder is better than the right shoulder for a left-handed hitter.”
And in answer to a question about whether his team was equipped to go without Ohtani for the rest of the World Series, Roberts said: “I’m not there … I’m expecting him to be there. I’m expecting him to be in the lineup.”
Related Articles
Swanson: Dodgers ride high after Freddie Freeman’s fireworks to Game 2 win
Dodgers hit 3 home runs for 2-0 World Series lead, but Shohei Ohtani leaves with injury
Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitches like Dodgers’ ace in World Series debut
Dodgers’ Miguel Rojas ‘feeling better’ but planning on offseason surgery
World Series Game 2: Dodgers vs. Yankees, lineups, starting pitchers, TV info
Meanwhile, another potential red flag might have gone up in the ninth inning. Blake Treinen – who pitched an inning and a third in the opener – came on in the ninth Saturday night against the heart of the Yankees’ order and struggled to protect the 4-1 lead handed to him. He gave up three hits – one of them a hard-hit grounder by Giancarlo Stanton that hit the third base bag and kangarooed into short left field, driving in a run – and hit a batter, and lefty Alex Vesia had to come in to get the final out, retiring pinch-hitter Jose Trevino on one pitch.
But consider: Vesia had his own health issues, missing the NL Championship Series against the Mets with an intercostal (rib) injury.
“Two and a half weeks ago, if you asked me, ‘Hey, would you be doing this (pitching in the World Series),’ I probably would have told you I would have been on the IL,” Vesia said. “I just can’t thank the training staff enough for getting me right and helping me, and putting me in a good position to be successful and just to be healthy.”
You’ve got to hope that the players, in divvying up postseason shares, made sure that the athletic trainers and strength and conditioning staffers were well taken care of. They’ve earned it this season.
And, as with the players, their job isn’t over yet.
jalexander@scng.com