Dodgers Too Much for Athletics

Shohei Ohtani of the Dodgers celebrating a home run against the Athletics

Photo by Harry How/Getty Images

May 14, 2025

Dodgers 9, Athletics 3

LOS ANGELES (May 14) — A pair of middle-inning runs gave the Los Angeles Dodgers a one-run lead over the visiting Athletics, and a five-inning outburst in the eighth put the game away, giving the Dodgers a 9–3 victory Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium. Home runs from Shohei Ohtani, Andy Pages, and Hyeseong Kim off rookie Athletics starter Gunnar Hoglund gave the Dodgers their first three runs of the evening.

Dodgers starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto lasted six innings, allowing three runs on four hits with two walks and six strikeouts. Athletics rookie starting pitcher Gunnar Hoglund narrowly missed a Quality Start himself, allowing four runs on seven hits across 5 1/3 innings with three walks and five strikeouts.

“I felt good,” Hoglund said. “Felt like my stuff was there, but I made some mistakes out over the middle of the plate. Against this lineup, you can’t do that. They made me pay for it.”

“A couple of infield hits and three solo homers against a really solid lineup — I thought he handled it pretty well,” Athletics manager Mark Kotsay said of Hoglund. “He managed the game and kept us in the game.”

Athletics – Dodgers Game Summary

Ohtani opened the scoring with his homer in the bottom of the first, his 17th career leadoff home run. Pages smacked his homer on the first pitch of the bottom of the second, giving the Dodgers a 2–0 lead. Tyler Soderstrom — the only Athletics batter to go hitless in the first game — tied the game with a two-out, two-run homer in the top of the third. “On the first pitch, I recognized it was a curveball up,” Soderstrom said. “I waited back and put a good swing on it.”

The Athletics pulled ahead in the top of the fourth on a Miguel Andujar double. Catcher Shea Langeliers scored from first on the play, the second consecutive night he scored from first on a double.

Dodgers rookie Hyeseong Kim led off the bottom of the fifth with his first career homer, tying the game at three. One inning later, Miguel Rojas — pinch-hitting for Kim — cracked a go-ahead double to center, scoring Michael Conforto from first.

They put the game away in the eighth off reliever Tyler Ferguson. Ferguson uncharacteristically yielded five earned runs thanks to a two-run double by Mookie Betts and a towering three-run homer by Max Muncy. Ben Casparius finished the Athletics off with a six-pitch 1–2–3 ninth.

What Went Right for the Athletics

Otañez Putting Out a Fire

Michel Otanez, activated before Tuesday’s game, made his first appearance of the season Wednesday night. He inherited a mess, entering the game in the bottom of the sixth with two outs, runners on the corners, and Betts at the plate. Otañez induced an inning-ending fly to right and followed with a scoreless seventh.

Tyler Soderstrom Bounceback

Soderstrom was the only Athletic to wear the oh-fer collar in Tuesday’s blowout win. He bounced back Wednesday night, going 2-for-4 with a double, a home run, and two RBI. “It felt great,” Soderstrom said of his performance Wednesday. “I had a tough night last night and started off this game with a punchy (strikeout). Went with a different mindset, wiped it, and kept going.”

The different mindset Soderstrom went with came down to confidence. “You can’t get yourself down,” he explained. “This game is really hard. There was a great pitcher out there. I had to stick with what I do, and it worked out.”

Game Was Closer than the Score Made It Seem

The Athletics were fully in this game until the five-run bottom of the eighth. This game was closer than the final score made it seem. “Up until the eighth inning,” Kotsay said, “this was a baseball game. The result of 9–3 makes it look like a really lopsided game, but outside that one inning, we were in this ballgame and had a chance to win.”

What Went Wrong for the Athletics

The Leadoff Home Runs

All three home runs yielded by the Athletics came to lead off an inning.

Andy Pages

Pages went 3-for-4 with a walk and a home run.

Rough Eighth Inning

As mentioned earlier, it is unusual for Ferguson to give up five runs in an inning. The two-run Betts double and three-run Muncy homer were daggers to the Athletics’ comeback hopes. Kotsay said of Ferguson’s night, “Just a little bit of lack of command. He normally can keep the ball down in the zone. I thought it was a little elevated tonight. So yeah, that’s unusual for him.

“We pushed him a bit last week, pretty hard, and it was maybe a sign of that. But he’s a big, strong guy and big reliever. He’s going to be fine.”

Quick Hits

Soderstrom’s home run, his 10th of the season, was his first since April 17. … After going a combined 0-for-9 Tuesday night, the Dodgers’ future Hall-of-Fame trio of Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, and Freddie Freeman had at least one hit each. They combined to go 4-for-13 with two walks, a double, a home run, and three RBI.

Looking Ahead

Yamamoto (5–3, 2.12 ERA) earned the win after a Quality Start. Hoglund (1–1, 3.78 ERA) took the loss. There was no save.

The Athletics (22–21) and Dodgers (28–15) will conclude their three-game series Thursday night. It will be a battle of right-handers, Osvaldo Bido (2–3, 4.75 ERA) for the Athletics and Matt Sauer (1–0, 1.54 ERA) for the Dodgers in a “bullpen game.”