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‘Stadium went silent’ but Dodgers know they can win World Series despite Ohtani injury

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‘Stadium went silent’ but Dodgers know they can win World Series despite Ohtani injury

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LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Dodgers don’t want to sound flippant.

They know just how much Shohei Ohtani means to their team, their franchise and the entire baseball world.

But if you think that Ohtani’s left shoulder injury, a partial dislocation, will be a huge impediment to the Dodgers’ road to a World Series championship, then you simply don’t know the Dodgers.

The Dodgers won again Saturday, 4-2, taking a 2-0 series lead over the New York Yankees at Dodger Stadium, believing that with or without Ohtani, they’re still going to win the World Series and have their first parade since 1988.

“We’re really confident,” Dodgers All-Star right fielder Mookie Betts said. “We have a great group of guys in here. We can take care of business, for sure. I believe in this team.”

Ohtani, baseball’s first 50/50 man – with 54 homers and 59 stolen bases this season – terrified the sellout crowd of 52,725 when he tried to steal second base in the seventh inning. He slid into the base, reached back with his left hand, and was tagged out.

Instead of getting back to his feet, he lay on the ground writhing in pain.

“The whole stadium went silent,” said Dodgers left fielder Teoscar Hernández, who homered in the third inning. “You know how big Shohei is for this team. Hopefully he’s okay, and the day off will help him get back on the field.”

Ohtani, who left the Dodgers clubhouse before reporters were permitted to enter, will undergo testing on Sunday, but the Dodgers are optimistic he’ll be back as their designated hitter in the World Series.

“Obviously when you get any one of your players that goes down,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said, “it’s concerning. But after kind of the range of motion, the strength test, I felt much better about it. A lot of things go through your head, but you just have to stay positive.

“We’ll know more in the next couple days, but the strength was great, the range of motion good. So, we’re encouraged.”

Asked if Ohtani will still return without missing the rest of the World Series, Roberts didn’t hesitate.

“I’m expecting him to be there,’’ Roberts said. “I’m expecting him to be in the lineup.”

The Dodgers have dealt with more potholes this season than a highway in the winter. The Dodgers had 15 pitchers go on the injured list, leaving them with only three starting pitchers in the postseason. They played without infielder Max Muncy for two months. Betts was out 45 days. First baseman Freddie Freeman missed 15 games, the most in seven years, and is playing this postseason on a badly sprained ankle.

Still, they persevered, winning the most games in baseball during the regular season before zipping past the San Diego Padres and New York Mets in the postseason. Ohtani or not, they are still deep and talented enough to win their first World Series in a full season since 1988.

“When you got a group like this,” Freeman said, “they picked me up when I’ve been down. That’s what they do. We’ve been doing it all year.”

Even watching Ohtani leave the game in pain, there was certainly sympathy for the human being, but honestly, no genuine concern for the team.

“Obviously, that’s a huge bummer,” said Dodgers infielder/outfielder Tommy Edman, who hit one of the Dodgers’ three homers. “He’s the best player in the game, and to see him on the ground in pain, it’s not a good feeling for sure. We’re hopeful he recovers quickly.”

Still, the Dodgers’ mantra all season has been next-man up, and it’s not going to change now just because it’s Ohtani.

“Obviously it would be a huge hole,” Dodgers infielder/outfielder Enrique Hernández said, “but there’s something about this team that guys are going to show up and be fine. We played some [postseason] games without Freddie in the lineup, and we won those games.

“We’re hoping we don’t have to play any games without Sho, but you know, if we do, I’m sure we’re going to find somebody to step up.”

The hyped matchup between Ohtani and Yankees center fielder Aaron Judge has been a early dud in these first two games, with Judge producing one hit while striking out six times. Judge’s struggles have lasted the entire postseason, hitting .150 (6-for-40) with 19 strikeouts and two homers.

The Yankees know that if Judge’s struggles continue, their World Series drought will continue. But if Ohtani can’t play Monday in Game 3 at Yankee Stadium, the Dodgers or is out the rest of the series, the Dodgers’ lineup is so deep that their confidence is undaunted.

“Oh, yeah, 1,000%,” said Teoscar Hernández, who with Freeman became the second Dodger teammates to hit back-to-back World Series homers, joining Pedro Guerrero and Steve Yeager. “We were battling throughout the year with a lot of injuries.

“First, it was the starting pitchers, and then Mookie and then Freddie. And hopefully not Ohtani in this case. It’s not going to be a good feeling, but if he can’t go on Monday, we just have to keep doing the things we’ve been doing for the past couple weeks.”

The Dodgers, even with their injury-riddled rotation, have rolled right through the postseason. They didn’t need a dramatic walk-off grand slam by Freeman on this night. They simply relied on the arm of starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who gave up just one hit, a solo homer to Juan Soto, over 6 ⅓ innings, and watched their bullpen stave off a ninth-inning Yankee rally

The Series now returns to New York where the Yankees are trying to become the first team to overcome a 2-0 deficit in the World Series since they achieved the feat in 1996 against Atlanta.

“No one said it’s going to be easy,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “It’s a long series, and we need to make it a long series now. We won’t flinch.”

The trouble for the Yankees is that neither will the Dodgers, with or without the big fella in the lineup.

“I know they’re going to come out ready to go,’’ Betts said. “They don’t have a choice. We don’t either. We have to keep going. We still have some business to take care of.’’

Follow Nightengale on X: @Bnightengale

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