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Dodgers rally behind bullpen after Bobby Miller exits early

Miller lasts just two innings, but six Dodgers relievers follow with seven scoreless innings and Shohei Ohtani drives in two runs in a 4-3 victory over the White Sox

CHICAGO — Maybe you can go home again. But Bobby Miller probably shouldn’t.

Pitching in his home state for the second time this season, Miller lasted just two innings and now has a 19.63 ERA in Illinois (one start each at Wrigley Field and Guaranteed Rate Field). But Shohei Ohtani’s hot streak apparently knows no borders. He hit another home run and drove in the go-ahead run as the Dodgers beat the Chicago White Sox, 4-3, Tuesday night.

“Obviously I’ve been in a tough spot lately,” said Miller, who has allowed eight runs in 8⅓ innings since returning from the injured list. “It’s been tough going back to rehab, it just feels like I’m going through spring training again.

“One thing I can say is every time I’m out there I’m giving it my all every single time. All it takes is just one good outing again just to get in the swing of things. I’m just not going to doubt myself. I know who I am. I know who I can be. I’m just going to keep trusting myself out there.”

Miller’s early departure turned Tuesday into an impromptu bullpen game and the Dodgers’ relievers responded. It was a roll call of nearly everyone who rode the team bus to the South Side. Michael Petersen, Yohan Ramirez, Anthony Banda, Blake Treinen, Daniel Hudson and Evan Phillips stranded seven baserunners in seven scoreless innings, holding the White Sox hitless in five at-bats with runners in scoring position while protecting the one-run lead from the fourth inning on.

Dodgers relievers have not given up a run in 13 innings over their past three games.

“Seven innings from pretty much almost everyone except for Vesia and Yarbs,” Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman said. “A lot of guys have to be perfect and that’s hard to do. But they stepped up.

“To cover seven innings is a lot. Gotta give credit to the bullpen. That’s why we won.”

Miller’s returns to Chicago (he gave up five runs and didn’t make it through two innings against the Cubs earlier this season) have been tough to watch. And his return from this season’s shoulder injury hasn’t been pretty either.

After posting a 7.80 ERA with nearly as many walks (eight) as strikeouts (10) in four minor-league rehab starts, Miller returned to the Dodgers’ rotation in Colorado last week and gave up three runs including a two-run home run in his first inning against the Rockies. He stuck around into the seventh but gave up two more runs before departing.

Against the White Sox, the same first-inning formula repeated. The first four White Sox batters reached base. Two scored on a home run by Andrew Benintendi, another on Eloy Jimenez’s RBI double.

Miller (who grew up about 50 miles north of Chicago near the Wisconsin border) gave up another hit and walked consecutive batters with two outs in the second inning, puffing up his pitch count to 60 and prompting Manager Dave Roberts to start the parade of relievers.

Roberts said he is satisfied that Miller is fully healthy after missing two months with a sore shoulder but “he just didn’t feel or look like himself for me. … just trying to get him back to who he was last year, which is not easy.”

“I think tonight he just didn’t have feel. You could see he was searching all night,” Roberts said. “His stuff just wasn’t really sharp, teethy, to put guys away. The changeup was a ball out of hand. The slider was rolling up there. And the fastball, when he did make some good throws with the fastball, they were spoiling them.”

Ohtani led off the game with a home run – with an assist to White Sox right fielder Tommy Pham. Pham jumped at the wall to try and snag Ohtani’s drive and the ball went off his glove then over the wall, confusing Ohtani who rounded first (bat in hand) and had to retreat to make sure he tagged the base.

“I really wasn’t sure if I actually stepped on the bag. So just to be safe I went back,” Ohtani said through his interpreter. “I was looking at the ball, hoping it would go out. I didn’t realize I had the bat with me so I dropped it for Clayton (McCullough, first base coach). That’s why I dropped the bat. I just wasn’t quite sure if I stepped on the bag.”

The home run was Ohtani’s 24th of the season, the seventh in his past nine games and fourth in the past five. It was the second time he led off a game with a homer since replacing the injured Mookie Betts in the leadoff spot. And it was his ninth consecutive game with an RBI, tying a franchise record done most recently by Roy Campanella in 1955.

“Regardless of the RBI streak I think it’s really about the team creating the opportunities to drive in the run,” Ohtani said. “Looking back at that situation, if it wasn’t for (Jason) Heyward pulling the ball and moving the guy over (in the ninth inning Monday) there wouldn’t have been an opportunity for me to drive in a run (on a sacrifice fly).”

Ohtani walked to start the third inning and scored on Freeman’s two-run, opposite-field home run.

That tied the score and the Dodgers regained the lead in the fourth inning against White Sox starter Chris Flexen. Gavin Lux drew a one-out walk and went to third base on Miguel Vargas’ single. After Cavan Biggio flew out to shallow left field, Ohtani stroked a two-out single into right field to drive in the go-ahead run.

Over his past nine games (eight as the leadoff hitter), Ohtani is 15 for 34 (.441) with three doubles, seven home runs, nine walks, 16 RBIs and 12 runs scored. He has six multi-hit games during this tear, only one hitless game with at least one extra-base hit and a run scored in eight of the nine games.

Ohtani reached the halfway point of his first season as a Dodger leading MLB in batting average (.320) and the National League in slugging percentage (.634), OPS (1.032) and home runs.

“I don’t know what more we can really say about him. I think we’ve said everything we can since he’s been in this league about what an amazing player he is,” Freeman said. “But when you come over here (to a new team), you just never know how a first year is going to go on any team. But, I mean, sometimes you just have to step back and just appreciate a player like this.”