OAKLAND, Calif.—Jack Flaherty pitched six sharp innings in his Dodgers debut and Los Angeles snapped a three-game losing streak by beating the Oakland Athletics 10–0 on Saturday night, August 3.
“Any time you can help the team win, that’s the important part of it,” Flaherty said. “I’ll take the time tonight to let it soak it all in. I’m just excited to be here and have a chance to contribute.”
Shohei Ohtani stole three bases for Los Angeles to give him 31 on the season to go with his 33 homers.
This is just the fourth time a Dodgers player reached the 30–30 club in a season and only three players in the majors doing it faster than Ohtani, who accomplished it in the 111th game of the season. Eric Davis was the fastest to do it in 1987 when he reached it in Cincinnati’s 105th game.
Flaherty (8–5) had the biggest night in his first game since being acquired on Tuesday in a deadline deal from Detroit. He paid immediate dividends for a struggling Dodgers team that had lost five of six games before he took the mound in Oakland.
He allowed five hits, one walk and struck out five in an impressive performance. He ended his night by escaping a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the sixth by inducing two groundouts and a strikeout.
“I think we all were excited to see Jack take the mound and don his Dodgers uniform,” manager Dave Roberts said. “He showed out really well. There was a quiet intensity to him. He was very focused, very controlled. I just loved the way he used his entire pitch mix.”
The Dodgers starters had combined for a 5.88 ERA over the previous 28 games— second worst in the majors in that span, contributing to the move to acquire Flaherty.
Gavin Lux gave Flaherty the lead in the third inning with a two-run single off Mitch Spence (7–7), leading the Dodgers to their second win in seven games on this road trip. Los Angeles now holds a 4 1/2-game lead in the NL West over San Diego.
The A’s had won 10 of 14 games with 31 homers before being shut down by Flaherty and the Los Angeles bullpen in front of an announced crowd of 35,207 that was the biggest this season at the Coliseum.
Manager Mark Kotsay said the missed opportunity in the sixth was the key point in the game and pointed to a 2–0 pitch to Seth Brown with one out that was called a strike even though replay showed it was low and away. Brown struck out.
“It was clearly a ball,” Kotsay said. “That changed the outcome of the at-bat. It really changed the at-bat. It’s a 3–0 count with Brownie up. You never know what it does, but it definitely gives the hitter the advantage.”
