Shohei Ohtani struck out 10 in six innings, Dalton Rushing hit a grand slam and the Los Angeles Dodgers pulled off a series sweep with an 8-2 victory over the visiting Mets on Wednesday, sending New York to its eighth consecutive loss.
Hyeseong Kim, Teoscar Hernandez and Kyle Tucker also hit home runs for the Dodgers, who improved to 10-2 since April 3 and 14-4 on the season.
Ohtani (2-0) gave up one run, two hits and two walks on a rare pitching outing when he was not also used as a hitter. The Dodgers reduced Ohtani’s workload after he was hit in the right shoulder by a pitch on Monday, and they turned to Rushing as the designated hitter.
It was the first time Ohtani did not hit on the same day he pitched since May 2021 as a member of the Los Angeles Angels.
MJ Melendez had two doubles with an RBI and Clay Holmes (2-2) gave up two runs over five innings for the Mets, who were held to three runs in the three-game series. Francisco Lindor, Luis Robert Jr. and Brett Baty each went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts at the top of the New York order.
Rushing doubled with two outs in the second inning ahead of Kim’s home run, which dropped just over the wall in right. It was the first of the season for Kim, who is getting playing time with Mookie Betts on the injured list.
The Mets broke through in the fifth after walks to Francisco Alvarez and Marcus Semien. Melendez followed with an RBI ground-rule double, cutting the deficit to 2-1. The run ended Ohtani’s 16-inning streak without an earned run to start the season.
Ohtani closed out his outing by striking out the side in the sixth inning.
Hernandez made it 3-1 with a leadoff home run to right field in the bottom of the sixth against Tobias Myers, his fourth.
Blake Treinen and Tanner Scott each pitched scoreless innings to protect the lead, and the Dodgers unloaded with a five-run eighth on Rushing’s grand slam, his fourth homer, and a solo shot from Tucker, his second.
Semien had an RBI single for the Mets in the ninth.
