LOS ANGELES — Shohei Ohtani’s seventh start as a Dodger wasn’t just another step in his carefully choreographed return to pitching. It was a full-on statement. On a warm Monday night at Dodger Stadium, Ohtani turned in a classic two-way performance that reminded the 50,000-plus in attendance — and the rest of Major League Baseball — exactly why he remains one of the most electric players in the sport.
He didn’t just pitch. He launched.
In the bottom of the first inning, just minutes after giving up his first home run of the season — a leadoff blast to Byron Buxton — Ohtani responded in the most Ohtani way possible: by crushing a 441-foot moon shot to dead center. Off the bat at 113.4 mph, it was his 35th home run of the year, a reminder that every time Ohtani steps on a field, he can change a game from both the mound and the plate.
Ohtani’s outing started with that punch to the chin — a first-pitch fastball that Buxton sent into the left-field pavilion. It was the first homer Ohtani had surrendered all year. But where some might have wobbled, Ohtani steadied.
He scattered four hits across three innings, striking out four and walking none, throwing 46 pitches — 30 of them strikes. The moment of truth came in the second inning, with Twins runners on first and second and just one out. Ohtani calmly struck out Harrison Bader on three pitches, then retired Buxton on a fly ball to escape unscathed. It was the kind of sequence that showcased both his stuff and his growing sharpness as he stretches deeper into his return to mound duty.
Ohtani needed 36 pitches to get through his first two innings but dialed in for a cleaner third to close his night. It was never about going deep into this game — Dave Roberts made clear that three innings was the cap — but rather how Ohtani handled major league hitters in live action.
Ohtani has recorded 14 strikeouts across 12 innings this season, allowing just one walk and posting an ERA of 1.50 through seven starts.