SF Giants-Dodgers: First look at Ohtani-mania a ‘fun’ challenge for non-roster invitee

PHOENIX — The location of the visitor’s clubhouse at Camelback Ranch, beyond the left-field wall, means any team that comes here to play the Dodgers must traipse all the way across the outfield and down the opposite foul line before they’re able to set their bags down in the first-base dugout.

It also leads all who visit, as the Giants did Tuesday, directly into the thralls of Ohtani-mania.

Fans lined up to five deep the length of the left-field line, hoping to catch a glimpse of the newest addition to the gauntlet that makes up the Dodgers lineup.

“I would, too,” Giants manager Bob Melvin said. “He’s pretty good.”

The experience was especially visceral for Blayne Enlow, a non-roster pitcher tasked with making the start. With Mookie Betts leading off, Shohei Ohtani batting second and Freddie Freeman in the three-hole, it was a 1-2-3 unlike Enlow had seen in six minor-league seasons.

“That was fun,” said Enlow, a former first-round pick of the Twins who was DFA’d last season without making the majors. “I was definitely a little anxious out there. But I just filled it up, trusted my stuff and got weak contact and outs, which was really my plan going into it.”

It was Enlow making the start Tuesday in place of Kyle Harrison, who got his work in at the minor-league complex in order to shield him from facing the Dodgers twice in a row.

Harrison could also see the Dodgers in his second start of the regular season, during the Giants’ visit to Dodger Stadium on their season-opening road trip.

Enlow surrendered a pair of hits to Ohtani but allowed only two other base runners over his three innings, even coaxing an empty two-strike swing from Freddie Freeman on a sharp breaking ball for his second strikeout. And, no, he did not ask to keep the ball as a souvenir, saying confidently, “I’ll get him again.”

While he faces long odds to make the roster, even with the opening in the fifth slot of the rotation, Enlow’s work against one of the game’s best lineups “gets your attention,” Melvin said. Assistant pitching coach J.P. Martinez put him on the Giants’ radar after working together in Minnesota.

Facing the Dodgers’ No. 2 starter, Tyler Glasnow, the Giants failed to muster a hit before he reached his pitch limit with one out in the sixth inning.

It stood in contrast to the superteam assembled by the Dodgers, which eventually exploded for six runs on 11 hits to send the Giants to a 6-4 loss. A pair of runs came on a home run from their cleanup hitter, catcher Will Smith, while what ended up being the decisive blow was delivered by — who else? — Ohtani, who launched an opposite-field homer off Landen Roupp for his third hit of the game.

“I knew what it was going to look like,” Melvin said of the Dodgers’ lineup. “I’ve seen the box scores. It’s just whether they’re going to hit Freeman two or Ohtani two. Three guys in the top of the order are really good, and it’s not like you can take a deep breath after that.”