Twelve-three over Pittsburgh after Paul Skenes hit the bench — and somehow, a Pirates rookie still had the night of his life off Shohei Ohtani. Twelve runs! After a week of me chewing my own arm off, the Dodgers drop twelve on the Pirates. This is the Dodgers Daily Podcast, and I can breathe again. Forty-three and twenty-five, eight games up. Today, we're sorting out what that 12-3 actually proved, the Tyler Callihan footnote, and where the Will Smith situation really stands. And whether one Pirates kid taking Ohtani deep is a story or a typo. Box score first, Kirk. Here's what I keep coming back to — the offense didn't just survive Skenes. They waited him out, then dismantled Pittsburgh's bullpen the second he left. Twelve runs gives Friedman some runway. So does forty-three and twenty-five change Friedman's deadline math? I mean, you don't pay a prospect haul for half a season of pitching when your lineup can hang twelve on anybody. Don't mortgage the farm for a rental. Sign the arm in the winter, ride the bats now. Last night was the receipt. Now — Callihan. A Pirates rookie homers off Ohtani, adds a three-run shot, has the best night of his career, and still loses by nine. Let that one sit. CBS Sports writes:
Tyler Callihan hit the first two home runs of his career, a solo shot off Shohei Ohtani in the fourth inning and a go-ahead, three-run blast off reliever Kyle Hurt in the eighth as the Pittsburgh Pirates rallied past the Los Angeles Dodgers 9-8 on Wednesday night.
Correction to the celebration in progress — the June 10th line is Pirates 9, Dodgers 8. Pittsburgh, not LA, walked away with the night. Nine-eight? We were up six-three when Ohtani came out! That's a five-run eighth inning — Kyle Hurt gives up the three-run shot to Tyler Callihan, and the whole thing's gone. Callihan had zero career home runs before last night. He left PNC Park with two — one of them 427 feet off Shohei Ohtani. Best night of a utility man's life. And Ohtani still sits at a 1.06 ERA after the worst start of his year. Season-high four runs, and he's STILL the scariest arm in the league. That part I'll take. Will Smith goes down with a neck issue, Chuckie Robinson gets the call — is this just the Dodgers covering their bases for a week, or should we actually be worried about Smith's availability from here? Honestly, it's the timeline that makes this feel like more than routine. Smith was scratched against the Angels on Saturday, June 7th — mid-game, after he was already penciled in — and per DodgerBlue's Matthew Moreno, Roberts said after that weekend, 'It's not serious, but it's something that is preventing him from playing.' Reassuring, until Smith misses four straight games before the IL move is even official. Roberts himself told reporters an IL stint was becoming 'more a possibility' as early as June 9th, per The California Post's Jack Harris. And the roster math wasn't simple. Yahoo Sports laid it out: Chuckie Robinson was basically the only catcher outside the 40-man who made organizational sense, so they needed a few days to sort out the move before making it official Thursday. Scratched Saturday, day-to-day through Tuesday, IL increasingly likely by Wednesday, official Thursday — that's not how a 48-hour tweak usually goes. Robinson's been here before as the backup — is there any reason to think he can hold things together with the bat while Smith is out, or is this just a keep-the-seat-warm situation? Robinson's track record with the club tells you why they trust him. He was recalled in almost the same spot last September, when Smith landed on the 10-day IL with a bruised right hand, per ESPN's Jorge Castillo. What I'm watching is Smith's neck. If it responds the way Roberts expects, fine. If this drags past the minimum, the Dodgers are leaning on a backup tandem behind the plate with real postseason stakes sitting there. Here's FOX Sports:
Andy Pages hit a two-run homer and added a sacrifice fly during a seventh-inning outburst against Pittsburgh's bullpen as the Dodgers quickly pulled away once Pirates ace Paul Skenes exited in a 12-3 win on Tuesday night.
Twelve runs! Skenes walks off the mound and the Dodgers turn into a wood chipper. Andy Pages with the two-run shot, his fourth bomb in twelve career games against Pittsburgh — that man owns the Pirates. The part that sticks with me, Joey — Skenes was excellent. Two runs in six, seven punchouts, retired Ohtani all three times. He did his job. Then he left, and the lineup ate Pittsburgh's bullpen alive. And it started on a pickoff throw that hit Rushing and rolled away. Henry Davis tries to be a hero and just gift-wraps the go-ahead run. After a week of me yelling about leaky bullpens — now it's somebody else's pen springing the leak. Freeman's 2,500th hit was tucked in the middle of it too. And the bigger number — 43 and 25, eight up. A full week of rotation hand-wringing, and the standings didn't even flinch. If you like keeping up with L.A. sports every day, check out Angel City Daily Podcast — a daily ACFC supporter briefing with match reaction, NWSL standings, roster moves, women’s soccer in Los Angeles, and supporter buzz, wherever you listen to podcasts.
You’ll find links to every story we covered today in the show notes, so if something grabbed you, you can go deeper there. That’s Dodgers Daily Podcast for this Thursday. This is a Lantern Podcast.