LOS ANGELES, CA — Dalton Rushing had to manage more than pitches during the ninth inning of Wednesday’s 5-4 win over the Rays. Alex Vesia was fighting his command and had loaded the bases with the Dodgers clinging to a one-run lead. Rushing made two trips to the mound, gave the left-hander a boost and helped guide him toward the slider that struck out Cedric Mullins to end the game.
“I think he’s a high-energy guy, so any piece of confidence I can throw his way is going to help him at the end of the day,” Rushing said. “There aren’t a lot of guys you can go up to, pound their chest and expect them to respond the way you want.
“I thought he was missing his fastball up, and I knew it had to be an adjustment he could make with his delivery. I wasn’t really worried about him being able to make a big pitch in a big spot. He’s done that multiple times in his career. It was just a boost of confidence.”
Rushing’s message was direct. Vesia had a chance to finish the game himself and gain something from working his way through the jam.
“It was, ‘You have the chance to close this game out right now. Finish it here and allow yourself to build confidence off of that,’” Rushing said.
Vesia reached a full count against Mullins with the bases loaded. Rushing called for the pitch he felt Vesia had the best chance to throw for a strike.
“You go to what you think he can put in the zone,” Rushing said. “You want to avoid walking a guy in that spot. Left on left, you have the advantage as a pitching staff. You go to whatever pitch you think he can land in the zone and give us the best chance to get weak contact or a miss.”
Vesia threw the slider, and Mullins swung through it.
For Rushing, knowing how to handle that type of moment comes down to understanding the pitcher standing in front of him.
“You pick and choose the people you do it with,” Rushing said. “You have to understand the person that pitcher is on the mound in the heat of the moment. How do they react in a big spot? Do they get even more locked in? Do they tighten up?
“Either one is okay, but I think it’s our job to understand that and understand what we need to say to get him back into the zone.”
Rushing also caught all six innings of Shohei Ohtani’s start. Ohtani cruised through the first four before Tampa Bay scored four times in the fifth.
“I think he’s fine,” Rushing said. “I thought he threw the ball really, really well. We ran into a little bit of trouble in the fifth. The easy way to look at it is that we gave up a leadoff walk. Leadoff walks tend to make things tougher for the defense, the pitching staff and the catcher trying to guide a game behind the plate.
“I don’t think we can dive too far into it with Shohei. I thought he threw the ball well. He ran into a little trouble in the fifth, but I don’t think there was any worry with the stuff. That’s a pretty good offense that knows how to put runs on the board. That’s the type of offense we’re going to face in October.”
Ohtani gave up four runs on seven hits, his roughest pitching line of the season. Rushing viewed the inning as something the pair can study and use to strengthen their work together.
“I think he did his job,” Rushing said. “At the end of the day, we put more runs on the board than they did, and we won the baseball game. We expect close to perfection out of Shohei every time he goes out there, and he expects that out of himself.
“I can build a better relationship with him moving forward based on what happened. Whether we get hit around here or there, I think it’s a learning lesson for both of us.”
Blood became visible on one of Ohtani’s fingers during the fifth inning, though Rushing was unsure how much the blister affected his pitches.
“I didn’t ask him too much about the blisters on his finger,” Rushing said. “You could see the blood, so it was bleeding a little bit. He’s dealt with it in his last couple starts. I’m going to talk to him, and we’re going to build off this one. It’s great that we could win a baseball game like that and sweep a team as good as they are.”
Ohtani also used his curveball often. Rushing said that came from the matchup rather than a lack of trust in another pitch.
“It varies from team to team,” Rushing said. “Some teams handle those pitches better. Some teams handle sweepers better than curveballs, and you pivot off that. I don’t think it was any preference based on what he felt or what he was comfortable with. It was just, ‘This is the better option between the two right now, and we’re going to stick with it.’”
Rushing also played a part in the Dodgers’ two-run fourth inning. His successful ABS challenge changed a called strike three into a walk, keeping the inning alive before Alex Freeland’s RBI single.
“I challenged because I thought it was a ball,” Rushing said. “In the moment, you challenge right away because your eyes gauge it as a ball out of the hand. Once I challenged, I thought, ‘We only have one challenge right now. I can accept a strikeout and keep a challenge for the defensive side and our pitching staff later in the game.’
“It became one of those things where I thought, ‘I’d better be right.’ If I’m wrong, I put us in a hole for being able to challenge a pitch later. It worked out and went in our favor, so there’s no looking back.”
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A lifelong baseball fan, Webb has been going to Dodger games since he moved to Los Angeles in 1987. His favorite memory was attending the insane Game 3 of the World Series in 2025 and hugging random Dodgers fans after Freddie’s walkoff homer. He has been writing for Dodgersbeat since 2020.