Dodgers relievers combine shut-out win over Shohei Ohtani, Angels

Dave Roberts’ pregame media briefing was about to break up on Wednesday when a Japanese reporter chimed in with a question that was as direct as the chalk line between home plate and first base in Angel Stadium.

“Do you want Shohei Ohtani?” the Dodgers manager was asked.

As much as Roberts might covet the Angels two-way star, he couldn’t let those feelings be known.

“I don’t think there’s a manager that wouldn’t love Shohei, but right now, he’s an Angel, so I want to get hits off him, and I want to get him out four times tonight,” Roberts said before the Freeway Series game. “And I can’t afford tampering charges.”

The Dodgers are expected to make a huge play for Ohtani in free agency, so much so that in a poll of 96 major leaguers conducted by the Athletic this week, 57.2% said they thought Ohtani would be playing for the Dodgers next season. The Angels ranked second at 11.4%.

Ohtani provided yet another reason why he likely will be the subject of an intense bidding war next winter in his first career start against the Dodgers, the right-hander giving up one run and five hits, striking out 12 and walking two in a stout seven-inning, 101-pitch effort.

But the Dodgers had Ohtani outnumbered, countering the Angels ace with a game in which seven relievers from what is statistically one of baseball’s worst bullpens combined to allow two hits in a 2-0 victory before a sold-out crowd of 44,760.

Freddie Freeman hit a solo home run off Ohtani in the fourth inning, and Miguel Vargas hit a solo shot off reliever Aaron Loup in the ninth to help the Dodgers, who have lost 10 of 16 games since June 3, win consecutive games for the first time since May 29 and 30 against the Washington Nationals.

The Dodgers, who also shut out the Angels 2-0 on Tuesday night, have won eight straight games against their Southern California rivals dating to the 2021 season.

A bullpen game seemed like an odd choice for the Dodgers considering the announced starter, Michael Grove, was called up from triple-A Oklahoma City before the game and their relievers entered Wednesday with a 5.01 earned-run average, the second-worst mark in baseball, ahead of only the Oakland Athletics.

Grove was recalled from triple-A but did not start against the Angels.

Instead, right-hander Brusdar Graterol set the tone with two hitless innings, and left-hander Victor González got a huge assist from left fielder David Peralta to escape the third.

Luis Rengifo led off with a double to left and took third on Andrew Velazquez’s grounder to first. Mickey Moniak followed with a slicing fly ball to shallow left.

Angels’ Luis Rengifo (2) is out at home with a tag by Dodgers catcher Will Smith (16) during the third inning on Wednesday.

(Ashley Landis / Associated Press)

Peralta raced in for the catch and fired a perfect one-hop throw to catcher Will Smith, who swiped a tag on Rengifo’s back before he could reach the plate with his head-first slide, the second time in as many games the Dodgers cut down a potential run at the plate.

Ohtani blanked the Dodgers on one infield hit and struck out six through three innings, but he opened the fourth by leaving an 85-mph cut fastball up and on the outer half of the plate to Freeman, who drove a 436-foot homer to left-center field for a 1-0 lead and the 2,998th hit of his career.

Dodgers right-hander Yency Almonte got the final two outs of the fourth and the first two outs of the fifth before giving up a single to Rengifo. Roberts summoned left-hander Alex Vesia, who walked Velazquez, the No. 9 hitter, to put two on.

Angels manager Phil Nevin, playing matchups, sent the right-handed-hitting Hunter Renfroe up for Moniak. Dodgers third baseman Michael Busch lost Renfroe’s high foul popup in the twilight, the ball dropping for an error, but Vesia bailed him out by getting Renfroe to fly out to center, ending the inning.

Vesia got the first two outs of the sixth, and Ryan Brasier, the veteran right-hander who was called up from triple-A on Tuesday, struck out Brandon Drury to end the sixth and retired the side in order in the seventh.

Left-hander Caleb Ferguson, who struck out Ohtani and Trout in Tuesday night’s win, walked pinch-hitter Michael Stefanic with one out in the eighth but got Renfroe to bounce into an inning-ending double play started by shortstop Mookie Betts.

Vargas gave the Dodgers breathing room in the top of the ninth, driving a solo homer above the yellow line on the high right-center field wall, a ball that center fielder Trout came inches from catching. That gave the Dodgers a 2-0 lead. Evan Phillips then retired the side in order in the ninth, which included a strikeout of Trout with an 87-mph sweeper, for his ninth save.

Miller on the shelf

Reliever Shelby Miller, who is 1-0 with a 2.40 ERA in 25 games, was placed on the 15-day injured list because of neck pain, an issue that Roberts said will sideline the veteran right-hander for three to four weeks.

“It’s something I think he’s dealt with [in the past], and I don’t think anyone appreciated the extent of it,” Roberts said. “I’m just amazed at how he still could perform with that.”