ATLANTA (AP) — Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts juggled his lineup for Tuesday night's 3-1 win over the Atlanta Braves in Game 3 of their NL Division Series, dropping designated hitter Shohei Ohtani to the No. 5 spot.
Roberts said the move was a one-game adjustment to give the Dodgers a different look against Braves left-hander Chris Sale.
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When Sale shut out the Dodgers 1-0 on Aug. 26, Ohtani was 0 for 4 with two strikeouts. For his career, Ohtani was 3 for 15 with no homers and one RBI against Sale.
The slumping Ohtani reached on catcher's interference in the second inning and also struck out and flied out against Sale. The slugger drew an eighth-inning walk from reliever Brent Suter.
“I still thought his intent, the at-bats were better,” Roberts said. “It’s good to know that we can still win games without him doing a whole bunch. But he’s going to come to life. It will happen.”
Roberts had Mookie Betts hitting leadoff and Freddie Freeman batting second. The No. 5 spot was the lowest Ohtani had hit since 2020 with the Angels. Betts had two hits and Freeman homered.
“We all understand that Sale’s going to be tough,” Roberts said before the game. “But the guys I feel at the top have a good chance to get on base, and I do think that there’s going to be opportunities where the game, the situation, bleeds into Shohei’s at-bat.”
All of the Dodgers' runs in the series have come on homers.
Ohtani, who hits from the left side, batted second in the Braves' 3-2 win at Los Angeles to tie the series on Sunday.
Roberts said he discussed the lineup move with Ohtani on Monday night and said the four-time MVP “completely understood.”
Roberts also said: "Ohtani said, 'I was going to come to you in September and say, why don’t you hit me seventh?' My point being, he wants to do whatever will help the team. So I feel good about this today. And it’s nothing as a sign of what’s more to come. It’s just for today specifically.”
Ohtani batted .275 with 30 homers and 81 RBIs in the regular season. He had two hits with two strikeouts in eight at-bats during the first two games of the series.
Ohtani played in the final five games of the regular season after coming off a two-week stint on the injured list with nagging right biceps and left knee issues. He went 5 for 21 with an extra-base hit, eight strikeouts and a walk over the final five games.
Roberts acknowledged Ohtani has been chasing pitches as he attempts to find his stroke and will continue to see pitches off the plate “until he shows some restraint.”
Roberts said he does not expect Ohtani to hit fifth in Wednesday's Game 4 against Braves right-hander Tyler Mahle.
“I just feel this gives us the best chance to beat the Braves today and combat Sale, to combat what they’re going to throw after Sale,” Roberts said. “And I feel good about it.”
Roberts said the lineup move was “not a lack of confidence in any player. It’s more of what I feel gives us the best chance to win today. And then that’s, in a short series, that’s the mindset that everyone has to have.”
Ohtani isn't the only high-profile hitter who has struggled in the series and the postseason.
Braves slugger Ronald Acuña Jr. was 3 for 18 in the postseason with no homers and was 2 for 9 in the first two games of the series. Atlanta manager Walt Weiss hasn't moved Acuña from his No. 2 spot in the lineup, but he slid Acuña from right field to designated hitter in a late lineup change. Lane Thomas entered the lineup in right field.
“I just think it’s the ebbs and flows of a season where guys get hot and cold,” Weiss said Tuesday of Acuña's slump. "And the same thing happens in the postseason. He’s one of those guys that’s one swing away from doing something really spectacular. So I don’t try to overthink it too much. It’s going to happen at some point."
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