LOS ANGELES — Yankees second baseman Gleyber Torres didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary in the Dodgers’ seventh inning Saturday night when 50/50 charter member Shohei Ohtani tried for a first World Series stolen base.
The Dodgers already were up three runs and looking for more insurance that would help them get to the finish line for a 2-games-to-none lead in this best of seven.
Torres hustled over to the bag, catcher Austin Wells’ throw was right there and Ohtani slid into his tag.
“I just tried to make the out and I didn’t really see what happened,” Torres said after the Yankees lost 4-2.
“I saw him slide and just stay down,” Yankees first baseman Anthony Rizzo added.
The inning was over, but Ohtani was down flat on his back.
“The whole stadium went silent,” Dodgers left fielder Teoscar Hernandez said. “You know how big Shohei is for this team.”
Soon enough, the Dodgers received a very encouraging update.
Preliminary imaging showed Ohtani has a shoulder subluxation, which is a partial dislocation that can be gently popped back into place.
That sure beats a broken collar bone or separated shoulder that would be season ending.
“He had a little left shoulder subluxation, but the strength was great,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “The range of motion good. So we’re encouraged.”
Ohtani wasn’t out of the woods. He made a late-night flight from Los Angeles to New York with the Dodgers and get imaging on Monday in New York.
“We’re going to get some tests at some point and then we’ll know more in the next couple days,” Roberts added. “Obviously, I can’t speculate because we don’t get the scans yet. Once we get the scans, we’ll know more. Again, with the strength, the range of motion good, that’s certainly a positive.”
Roberts’ early prediction is Ohtani will be good to go Monday night when the Yankees and Dodgers play Game 3 at Yankee Stadium.
This injury scare occurred on Ohtani’s slide.
“He slides on his left knee, right foot forward,” Roberts said. “That’s my assumption Then as he put his hand down, it probably subluxed out. That’s probably what it was.”
The Yankees were hoping for the best, too, even though they know Ohtani being sidelined out help them.
“First, you hope he’s OK for the sport,” Rizzo said. “You want your best players in the field. Obviously, if they do lose a guy like that, it’s a huge loss for their team.”
Added Yankees pitcher Carlos Rodon, “As a competitor and baseball player, you don’t want to see anybody get hurt. He’s such a tremendous player. That would be a tough loss for them.”
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Randy Miller may be reached at rmiller@njadvancemedia.com.
