"We collectively did really well against him" - Shohei Ohtani lauds Dodgers strong performance against Orioles starter Corbin Burnes

Shohei Ohtani and the Dodgers got the better of Orioles starter Corbin Burnes during their 6-4 win on Wednesday. Los Angeles scored six runs during his spell, but Burnes earned just one of those runs, thanks to three costly defensive errors in a season-high for Baltimore.

Corbin Burnes headed into the game with a 12-6, 3.28 ERA. He was struck for two home runs, one in the very first inning by Ohtani, while the second one came in the third and a much costlier Teoscar Hernandez three-run bomb. That had followed a Mookie Betts RBI single two-bats before. Later, a fielding error by shortstop Gunnar Henderson plated Ohtani again in the fifth innings.

Despite the loss, the three fielding errors helped Burnes' ERA drop to 3.23. He whiffed batters 19 times, the joint second highest for the season. The two home runs were the only two pitches where the Dodgers batters could hit a ball in excess of 100 mph against him.

The Dodgers had to toil hard but eventually got ahead in the game. While acknowledging the threat possesed by Burnes, Ohtani appreciated the team's collective effort in getting the better of the Cy Young callibre pitcher.

"We knew going into the game that it was going to be a tough pitcher to face, but we really collectively did really well today," Ohtani said through his interpreter Will Ireton.

---

Corbin Burnes looks to rebound from a tough month of August

There were major concerns in the Baltimore camp when their ace Corbin Burnes earned a collective 13 runs from 9.2 innings in his last two starts.

After the Dodgers game, Burnes felt that he performed a lot better on the mound and hopes to minimize the damage by not hanging pitches in the center.

“Outside of those one big innings every time, they’re pretty good outings. So just have to find a way to minimize and not leave balls up in the zone, it’s just kind of what has hurt me the last couple. But tonight was definitely better than the last two.”

Despite the improvement, it was his fifth start in August when Burnes allowed five runs or more. Previously, in his 22 outings this season, he hadn't given up more than four. He will look to take the positives from the outing and hope for a better September.