James Outman blasts away his slump with home run in Dodgers’ win over Twins
Jack Harris April 8, 2024
After two straight days out of the starting lineup, then two straight strikeouts to start his game Monday night, James Outmans season-opening slump appeared to reach a
new
nadir entering the seventh inning at Target Field.
Then, with one hanging slider and one cathartic swing, the Dodgers’ second-year center fielder finally found a reprieve.
In the team’s 4-2 win over the Minnesota Twins,
at Target Field,
it was Outman’s solo blast that put the Dodgers in front for good, a towering 353-foot blast that sailed just high enough to clear the
toweringmonstrous
wall
indown
the right-field
corner
.
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It didnt mean Outman had the biggest night offensively, not after Shohei Ohtani recorded his fifth-straight multihit game by doubling twice
early
and homering for the third time this season later in the seventh inning.
But, following a troubling four-for-34 start,
to the season,
Outmans contribution might have been the most important development not only to the final score, but also the trajectory of
what has been
a
his previously
slumping
second season for him
.
sophomore campaign.
The Dodgers also got a strong start from left-hander James Paxton, who gave up two runs in a six-inning, three-hit, four-strikeout performance.
Then, after the go-ahead seventh-inning blasts from Outman and Ohtani who is now 11 for his last 22 with eight extra-base hits the club’s preferred trio of late-game relievers also came through, with Ryan Brasier, Daniel Hudson and Evan Phillips pitching a scoreless inning each.
