Dodgers unravel, blow 5-run lead in loss to Pirates

PITTSBURGH — Shohei Ohtani might not have been the best two-way player in this game.

Tyler Callihan, an unheralded utility man for the Pittsburgh Pirates, had no home runs in his first 19 major-league games but one pitching appearance – he went to the mound, mop in hand, for the final inning of Tuesday’s blowout game (his professional debut as a pitcher). He now has two home runs as a big-leaguer after hitting both to power the Pirates to a 9-8, come-from-behind victory over the Dodgers on Wednesday night.

The Dodgers and Ohtani, who gave up a season-high four runs in 6⅔ innings, let a 6-1 lead melt in the humidity at PNC Park then watched the Pirates explode for five runs in the eighth inning.

“This one stung because I thought we were playing good baseball. We have no business losing that game,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.

It was an eventful day for Ohtani even before the flammable finish.

He was robbed of a home run, gave up a home run that cleared the right-field seats, hit a home run, reached 100 mph 15 times (rounding up) and pitched into the seventh inning for only the third time in 11 starts this season.

That’s when things went south on the Dodgers.

They built their 6-1 lead despite Pirates left fielder Bryan Reynolds robbing Ohtani of a home run at the left field wall in the third inning.

“It felt good off the bat. I thought it was gonna be a homer,” Ohtani said through his interpreter of the 375-foot drive. “Looking back at the video, it was a homer, but the left fielder made a fantastic catch. Gotta tip my cap on that one.”

An inning later, the Dodgers put two runs on the board with doubles by Freddie Freeman and Max Muncy and an RBI single by Kyle Tucker.

That lead was cut in half when Callihan jumped on a first-pitch fastball from Ohtani and sent it 427 feet over the right-field seats for his first major-league home run.

“They had a plan to try and move the ball forward as soon as possible and avoid striking out. They made it pretty obvious,” Dodgers catcher Dalton Rushing said. “Young guy runs into one, so be it. I thought that he executed the ball pretty well. Their whole plan was just hit the first strike you see to avoid striking out.”

That was the only mark on Ohtani as he took the mound for the seventh inning, now sitting on a five-run lead after Ryan Ward hit his first career grand slam in the sixth.

“Going into that inning, the pitch count was pretty, relatively low,” said Ohtani, who threw 81 pitches through six innings. “So I don’t think so (fatigue). After the two hitters, the two outs felt pretty good. It was just a mis-execution on that 3-0 pitch.”

He walked the first batter then gave up a single on a swinging bunt. Back-to-back strikeouts had Ohtani on the verge of escaping the inning but he fell behind 3-and-0 to Brandon Lowe – two of those nipping at the strike zone but unchallenged by the Dodgers.

“I really got close to doing one,” Ohtani said of challenging the calls. “I usually let the catchers make that determination. But looking back, I think situationally, how important it was, that at-bat – looking back, I think I could have done a few challenges.”

Rushing (who was catching Ohtani for the first time this season) agreed the calls were questionable but he weighed the situation, knowing the Dodgers had just one challenge left heading into the late innings.

“I thought they were balls, maybe one of the two were worth challenging,” Rushing said.

“(You’re considering) the score of the game, what part of the game, what time of the game are we at? Do we need one late in the game? Do we have two? Do we have one to waste? You never want to go into the eighth, ninth inning without a challenge from an offensive side, especially in a close game.”

Lowe took advantage, lining Ohtani’s 3-and-0 fastball into right field for a two-out, two-run double.

Ohtani’s pitching night was over, but the Pirates closed the gap further when an error by Muncy led to another run.

“We gave up another one but we got out of that inning,” Roberts said. “I still felt we had the game in hand.”

Spoiler alert – they did not.

Kyle Hurt took over in the eighth inning. He walked just two batters in his first 14 innings this season but has walked seven in his past eight innings – including the first two Pirates he faced. That brought up Callihan again.

He didn’t clear the right-field seats this time but Callihan lined a first-pitch changeup from Hurt into the crowd for a three-run home run that gave the Pirates the lead.

“I didn’t get ahead, fell behind every single hitter, didn’t throw one first-pitch strike – that leads to damage,” Hurt said. “I just didn’t execute. I had some guys, 3-2, I didn’t execute there either. Just just missing a little bit, I let a few go, sped up a little bit. There’s always tomorrow, so just ready to get back at it.

“That guy’s swinging a hot bat today. I tried to go first-pitch changeup, tried to get him to roll over, get a ground ball, and did catch too much of the plate and he hit it over the fence, so there was nothing I could do about it.”

Hurt gave up two more hits, recording his only out when Jake Mangum was thrown out trying to steal third. Jack Dreyer replaced Hurt and ran into his own issues. He gave up a two-run home run to Spencer Horwitz, his third home run allowed in five appearances since returning from the injured list.

After setting a franchise-record with 38 consecutive scoreless innings in May, the Dodgers’ bullpen has given up 26 runs in 27 innings in June.

“I think I’m seeing more walks than when we were going real well,” Roberts said. “I think when we’re on the attack and kind of imposing our will on those offenses we’re as good as anyone. And I know when you give free passes it sort of builds momentum for the other team. It takes one hit for them to score a run instead of a couple hits to build an inning. I think right now we’re doing a little self-inflicted damage.

“Hitting is hard. When you give away free bases, it just makes it a little easier. That’s something we’ve got to get back to, attacking the strike zone.”

In danger of being thoroughly overshadowed, Ohtani hit a two-run home run in the ninth inning to close the gap before Pirates left-hander Gregory Soto could close out the game.