Dodgers offense rolls on, backs Tyler Glasnow to rout Giants

Another big fifth inning propelled the Dodgers to a second straight win over the Giants, taking the series finale 10-2 on Sunday afternoon at Oracle Park in San Francisco. The Dodgers scored double-digit runs in consecutive games for the first time since April 29-30.

The Dodgers faced two All-Star starting pitchers in the final two games in San Francisco, and chased them both after 12 outs. Robbie Ray allowed two runs in his first four innings, but began the fifth with a walk, single, then RBI double by Freddie Freeman to end his day. Both bequeathed runners would later score in the 24-minute top of the fifth inning, hanging five runs on Ray’s ledger.

This came one day after the Dodgers scored six off Logan Webb, who was also pulled after allowing the first three batters of the fifth inning reach on Saturday. The Dodgers scored four runs in the fifth inning snd two in the sixth on Sunday, after combining for nine runs in those two frames on Saturday.

Mookie Betts and Teoscar Hernández started that fifth-inning rally by reaching base, and they also each singled to open both the third and sixth innings. They combined this week for 23 hits and 14 runs scored in six games, and though neither drove in a run on Sunday had the top two RBI totals on the team, with 10 for Betts and six for Hernández.

Michael Conforto had the big blow in the fifth with a pinch-hit two-run single to break the game open, and Miguel Rojas cashed in Betts and Hernández with a two-run single in the sixth. Conforto was 3-for-3 with three RBI in a game he did not start.

Both starting pitchers struggled to throw strikes early. Ray walked three in his first two innings, and Tyler Glasnow walked four with a hit batter. Both threw a wild pitch in the second inning which led to a sacrifice fly by the No. 8 hitter. Tommy Edman’s potential third-inning-ender double-play grounder clanged off Matt Chapman’s glove at third base. Chapman recovered to get one out, but Betts scored from third base.

Glasnow threw more balls than strikes until the end of the fourth inning, but still to that point allowed only one run on one hit. He settled down to retire 11 straight at one point to get into the seventh inning. A single by Andrew Knizner snapped Glasnow’s string of outs, and a double by Drew Gilbert brought the hook.

After Edgardo Henriquez cleaned things up with a groundball to end the inning, Glasnow settled for 6 2/3 innings and just one run allowed on three hits and those four walks. He was one out shy of pitching seven innings for the third start in a row, something he did in both 2021 and 2023 with the Rays.

Ben Rortvedt has assumed the lion’s share of duties with both Will Smith and Dalton Rushing injured, with Sunday his fourth start in a row, giving him seven starts behind the plate in the last eight games. Rortvedt is the only Dodgers catcher to start seven times in nine days this season. Smith started eight of the first nine games of the regular season, but that included two games in Japan with a week in between, plus two other off days during that stretch.

One of Rortvedt’s best skills is his receiving behind the plate, with above-average framing as measured by both Baseball Prospectus and Baseball Savant, compared to well-below-average framing numbers by Smith and Rushing. Tangible evidence of this came in the first inning, when Rortvedt presented an outside full-count pitch by as a strike, ending a long frame by Glasnow rather than extending it further.

But also, Rortvedt reached base three times on Sunday with two walks and a single, and in his brief time with the Dodgers is hitting .320 (8for 25) with a .414 on-base percentage.

Freeman’s double in the fifth inning was his 39th of the season, which leads the National League. Freeman, who has led the league in doubles in four of the previous seven seasons, is one shy of his sixth season of 40 or more doubles. His double on Sunday was the 547th of his career, tying him with Manny Ramirez for 34th all-time.

Shohei Ohtani reached on a pop-fly single and scored in the ninth inning, his 135th run of the season breaking his own Los Angeles Dodgers record for runs scored that was set last season. Ohtani is 13 runs shy of the franchise record set by Hub Collins in 1890.

The Dodgers lead the Padres in the National League West by 2 1/2 games, with 13 games left to play for Los Angeles and 12 for San Diego. The Dodgers’ magic number to clinch the division is down to 10.

The Dodgers have won all three series against the Giants so far this season, taking two out of three games each time. These two teams meet again for four games starting Thursday at Dodger Stadium.

Home runs: none

WP — Tyler Glasnow (3-3): 6 2/3 IP, 3 hits, 1 run, 4 walks, 4 strikeouts

LP — Robbie Ray (11-7): 4+ IP, 6 hits, 5 runs, 4 walks, 5 strikeouts

The Dodgers are back home for their final homestand of the season, first up facing the fellow division-leading Phillies beginning Monday night (7:10 p.m.; SportsNet LA, MLB Network). Emmet Sheehan starts the series opener for Los Angeles, with left-hander Ranger Suárez pitching for Philadelphia. The Phillies lead the Dodgers by 4 1/2 games for the No. 2 seed in the National League, which would secure a bye past the wild card round and into the NLDS.

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