Freeman, Ohtani flash starpower with HRs: 'Nice to be on their side'

LOS ANGELES -- There’s no secret the Dodgers went into Thursday’s off-day looking for some answers. As they continue to wait for reinforcements to be activated from the injured list, L.A. has struggled to find much consistency over the last couple of months.

When a team is looking for a spark, it usually turns to its best players to provide it. Luckily for the Dodgers, they still have Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman, two of the biggest stars in the Majors, who can lead the way any given night.

That’s exactly what the two former Most Valuable Players did on Friday, each delivering early homers that helped jump-start the Dodgers to a much-needed 9-5 win over the Pirates at Dodger Stadium.

“Sometimes, days off are good,” Freeman said. “Yesterday, that was a good day off. Came in here, scored some runs early, gave Jack [Flaherty] some breathing room. … Hopefully we can keep that going tomorrow. It’s going to be a fun matchup [against Pirates ace Paul Skenes].”

Freeman got the Dodgers started right away, hitting a solo homer off Pirates right-hander Mitch Keller in the first inning. For Freeman, it was his first homer since returning after a nine-day absence as he tended to a family emergency regarding his youngest son, Maximus.

Since returning, Freeman has given the Dodgers exactly what they missed without him, recording at least one hit in all four games. On Friday, Freeman reached base safely three times.

“We’re shocked,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, when asked if he was surprised how good Freeman’s timing is despite missing time. “Four days over an All-Star break, guys get rusty. This guy, eight or nine days and, you know, spending time with his family, [he] comes out [and] doesn’t miss a beat. Pretty remarkable.”

In the third, it was Ohtani’s turn to do some damage. Ohtani, who has struggled a bit as of late, especially once he gets into two-strike counts, smashed a Statcast-projected 448-foot two-run homer off Keller on a 1-2 slider that hung in the zone. Ohtani’s 35th homer of the season helped him retake the lead in the National League over Marcell Ozuna. The Dodgers are now 7-0 in games in which both Freeman and Ohtani homer.

“I’ve asked Shohei to show me something for a couple days, so it was nice of him to hit a homer today,” Flaherty joked. “Tough guys to get out. You really have to execute your stuff. … It’s definitely nice to be on their side.”

While Ohtani and Freeman led the way, the Dodgers got other contributions from the rest of the lineup. Will Smith got a much-needed two-RBI single on a checked swing. Miguel Rojas added an RBI single of his own, while Kiké Hernández provided the exclamation point with a two-run homer that bounced off Bryan Reynolds’ glove in left and into the stands.

The nine-run outburst was more than enough for Flaherty, who was making his first start as a Dodger in the stadium he grew up attending games at as a kid. Flaherty’s final line wasn’t what he expected, as he allowed four runs over 5 2/3 innings, but the right-hander did admit he had some jitters to start the outing. In the end, Flaherty, who struck out 10, was treated to a standing ovation from the home crowd.

“A lot of emotions just going through my head as I warmed up and everything,” Flaherty said. “I tried to take it all in. Yeah, just a lot of fun and these guys then came out and swung the bats tonight. Getting the lead like that allows me to continue to go out and attack.”

Overall, it was a crucial win for the Dodgers, who are now in a race atop the NL West with both the D-backs and Padres. Freeman and Roberts both acknowledged that the team is well aware of how well the other clubs in their division are playing. The Dodgers will get some reinforcements soon, especially Mookie Betts, who’s slated to be activated on Monday.

But in the meantime, they still have to win as many games as possible. They achieved that on Friday.

“If we’re worrying about other teams in the first 10 days of August, we’re not doing the right thing,” Freeman said. “We need to worry about ourselves, getting some guys back in the next week and a half, playing some better baseball, and then see where we’re at in five, six weeks.”