Right-hander Jack Flaherty has drawn an unfriendly foe for his first start with Los Angeles Dodgers as the National League West leaders continue their three-game series against the host Oakland Athletics on Saturday.
The A’s continued their impressive play of late in Friday’s series opener, getting home runs from Shea Langeliers, Seth Brown and Brent Rooker in a 6-5 victory.
The defeat at the hands of the American League West’s last-place team continued a losing trend for the Dodgers, who went just 11-13 in July, prompting changes at the trade deadline.
One move was the acquisition of Flaherty (7-5, 2.95 ERA) from the Detroit Tigers at the deadline for a pair of minor-leaguers.
The 28-year-old native of the Los Angeles suburb of Burbank allowed no more than two runs in seven of his final eight starts for the Tigers, a stretch in which he went 6-1 with a 1.77 ERA.
But Flaherty has struggled in two career starts against the A’s, going 0-2 with a 10.97 ERA. That includes a 7-1 home loss for the Tigers in April in which he allowed six runs in six innings, with three of the runs coming on a Zack Gelof homer.
Despite being 400 miles up the road from his old — and new — home, Flaherty expects a friendly reception in his first game in a Dodgers uniform.
Many Dodgers fans contributed to Oakland’s largest home crowd of the season Friday — 21,060. Those who stuck around were rewarded when Shohei Ohtani, potentially the final batter of the game, extended the night with a three-run homer that made it a one-run game.
“It didn’t really sink in until I got on the phone with my mom and she brought up some things,” Flaherty said of returning to California. “I think everyone deep down wants to play for their hometown team. Getting the opportunity to (do it) is just special.”
Despite his stellar ERA, Flaherty has allowed 15 homers in his 18 starts. Now he must deal with a team that led the majors in home runs last month with 45 and got a nice jump on August with three more Friday.
Miguel Andujar wasn’t among the home run hitters in the series opener, but his RBI triple gave Oakland the lead for good in what he considered a special win.
“We played like that against the Dodgers. That’s amazing,” he said. “Everybody came through. I am super happy.”
Seeking to make it two in a row will be right-hander Mitch Spence (7-6, 4.47), who has never faced the Dodgers but, coincidentally, has gone head-to-head with the other Los Angeles team in four of his past six starts. The 26-year-old rookie is coming off back-to-back wins over the Angels, one at each team’s home ballpark, limiting them to three runs in 11 1/3 innings.
The Dodgers did all their scoring Friday on home runs, with Teoscar Hernandez belting a two-run shot in the first before Ohtani’s blast in the ninth.
The three RBIs gave Ohtani 79 for the season, tied with the A’s Rooker for fourth-most in the majors. Ohtani leads Rooker in home runs, 33 to 27.
-Field Level Media