Shohei Ohtani hits NL-leading 24th homer as the Dodgers top the lowly White Sox 4-3

26/06/2024

Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani and Chicago White Sox catcher Korey Lee watch Ohtani's RBI single off starting pitcher Chris Flexen during the fourth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, June 25, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

CHICAGO (AP) — Shohei Ohtani hit a leadoff homer and a tiebreaking RBI single, helping the Los Angeles Dodgers top the Chicago White Sox 4-3 on Tuesday night.

Led by Ohtani and Freddie Freeman, the Dodgers won for the seventh time in nine games. The NL West leaders are 50-31 at the midpoint of their schedule.

Los Angeles Dodgers' Freddie Freeman (5) and Shohei Ohtani, right, are greeted in the dugout after they scored on Freeman's two-run home run off Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Chris Flexen during the third inning of a baseball game Tuesday, June 25, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Ohtani drove a hanging curveball from Chris Flexen into the visitor’s bullpen in right-center for his NL-best 24th homer. White Sox right fielder Tommy Pham tried to make a leaping grab on the play, but was unable to bring it in.

Chicago White Sox's Tommy Pham, right, greets Andrew Benintendi at home after they both scored on Benintendi's two-run home run off Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Bobby Miller during the first inning of a baseball game Tuesday, June 25, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Ohtani also walked and scored on Freeman’s two-run homer in the third inning. He batted again in the fourth and gave Los Angeles a 4-3 lead with a two-out RBI single.

“It wasn't an easy pitch to hit, but my mindset was getting a base hit,” Ohtani said through an interpreter.

Ohtani has driven in at least one run in his last nine games, matching a franchise record. The two-time AL MVP is batting .306 (26 for 85) with 10 homers and 22 RBIs in 22 games this month.

“I don't know what more we can really say about him,” Freeman said. “I think we've said everything we can since he entered this league, about what an amazing player he is. ... Sometimes you just got to step back and just appreciate a player like this.”

Baseball fans do the wave in left field as Chicago White Sox's Danny Mendick takes a defensive position during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday, June 25, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Andrew Benintendi hit a two-run homer for Chicago, which lost for the sixth time in seven games. Pham walked three times from the leadoff spot, and Gavin Sheets had two hits.

Flexen (2-7) permitted four runs and six hits in 5 2/3 innings. The right-hander is winless in his last nine starts.

“I thought I battled pretty decent but obviously it didn’t put us in position to win," he said. "Handful of walks, a couple home runs. Early lead, so pretty disappointed about it. Tough battle.”

Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Miguel Rojas forces Chicago White Sox's Gavin Sheets out at second but is unable to turn the double play on a ball hit by Paul DeJong during the fifth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, June 25, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

At 21-60, the White Sox are off to the worst 81-game start in franchise history. The previous record was 27-54 in 1934 and 1948. They dropped to 6-15 in one-run games.

“It’s been tough. It might look a lot uglier than it actually is,” Benintendi said. “We’ve played a lot of one-run ballgames. We’ve put together one, two good weeks. But we’ve got 81 games left, just keep trucking, keep working on things, keep getting better.”

Benintendi hit his sixth homer and Eloy Jiménez added an RBI double as Chicago scored three times in the first against Bobby Miller. But it managed just five hits for the rest of the game.

Miller, a suburban Chicago native, lasted just two innings in his second start since returning from shoulder inflammation. Michael Petersen (2-0) got six outs for the win, and Evan Phillips handled the ninth for his 13th save in 13 chances.

“The shoulder feels great. My body feels great,” Miller said. “I think it's just sometimes trying a little bit too hard out there, doing a little bit too much.”

Dodgers outfielder Teoscar Hernández rejoined the team after he missed Monday's 3-0 victory in the series opener to fly home to the Dominican Republic for a personal reason. But manager Dave Roberts gave Hernández another day off.

TRAINER'S ROOM

White Sox: Manager Pedro Grifol said the team is monitoring Benintendi in his comeback from left Achilles tendinitis. “We’ll manage that with maybe some matchups that are good for us as a team and at the same time gives him an opportunity to rest that Achilles and kind of regroup,” Grifol said. ... RHP Mike Clevinger (elbow inflammation) pitched 4 2/3 innings in his second rehab start for Triple-A Charlotte on Sunday, but the team hasn't confirmed a date for his next outing just yet.

UP NEXT

Right-handers Gavin Stone (8-2, 3.04 ERA) and Erick Fedde (5-2, 3.05 ERA) pitch on Wednesday night in the series finale. Stone is 7-1 with a 2.18 ERA in his last 10 starts for Los Angeles. Fedde is 1-1 with a 2.88 ERA in four June starts for Chicago.

___

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

OTHER NEWS