On a night Shohei Ohtani pitched, Tyler Callihan stole the show, hitting the first two home runs of his career, including one off Ohtani to lead the host Pittsburgh Pirates to a 9-8 comeback win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday night.
Callihan’s three-run home run in the bottom of the eighth off reliever Kyle Hurt (1-1) put the Pirates ahead 7-6 to complete a comeback from a 6-1 deficit, and snap a four-game losing streak.
Spencer Horwitz gave Pittsburgh some added cushion later in the inning when he hit a two-run home run off reliever Jack Dreyer following a double by Jared Triolo.
It would prove crucial after Ohtani tried to bring L.A. back in the ninth when he blasted a two-run home run — his 12th of the season — off Pirates closer Gregory Soto to cut the deficit to a run. But Soto recovered by retiring Andy Pages and Freddie Freeman to end the game and record his ninth save.
Evan Sisk (1-0) picked a key out in the top of the eighth just before the Pirates’ comeback to keep the Dodgers from adding to a 6-4 lead when he struck out Alex Call with a runner on second.
In the bottom of the fourth with the Dodgers leading 2-0, Callihan belted a 97 mph fastball from Ohtani and sent it 427 feet to right field for his first career home run.
But Los Angeles appeared destined to take its second in a row from the Pirates after Ryan Ward hit his first career grand slam in the top of the sixth off Pittsburgh reliever Carmen Mlodzinski.
Ohtani, who entered the game riding one of the best stretches of 10 starts to open a season in major league history, was not his typical unstoppable self.
Ohtani, who had allowed only one run in his previous four starts, gave up three earned runs on six hits, three walks, one hit batter, and struck out six over 6 2/3 innings.
Kyle Tucker led the Dodgers at the plate with two hits. Horwitz had two hits and Jake Mangum had three hits for the Pirates.
