Shohei Ohtani throws 6 hitless innings, hits leadoff home run to push Dodgers past Rockies
Shohei Ohtani pulled out yet another incredible pitching performance on Wednesday night.
Ohtani threw six hitless innings in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 4-1 win over the Colorado Rockies. That contest gave the Dodgers their fifth straight win and completed the series sweep.
Ohtani nearly led the Dodgers to a combined no-hitter, too, just days after the Houston Astros pulled off that same feat. Tyler Freeman drilled a single in the eighth for the lone Rockies hit to break it up.
Ohtani had seven strikeouts and threw 99 pitches in his six innings. He now holds a 0.82 ERA in nine games this season, which is easily the best of his career. By comparison, Ohtani held a 2.87 ERA over 14 starts last season, his first back on the mound after a long series of injuries that limited him to only batting.
While he shined on the mound, Ohtani got the night started at the plate. He hit a leadoff home run to get the game started. Freddie Freeman followed suit with a homer of his own later in the inning.
Ohtani is the first pitcher in Major League Baseball to have both a home run and pitch six hitless innings in a game since 2015. The last Dodger to pull that feat off was Don Drysdale in 1959.
While Ohtani didn’t give up a hit, the Rockies got on the board in the fourth inning. Ohtani walked TJ Rumfield to start the inning and then hit Hunter Goodman with a pitch right after, which eventually led to Willi Castro driving Rumfield in on a groundout to second.
It was almost worse for the Dodgers, too, but Freeman was able to control a wild pickoff throw from Ohtani. Naturally, Ohtani was very relieved.
The Dodgers added another run in the bottom of the inning after an RBI single from Alex Call. Andy Pages hit a solo home run in the eighth for good measure. That gave the Dodgers the three-run win.
The Dodgers now sit at 36-20 on the season. They’ve won 12 of their last 14 games, and are in control of the NL West race as the second full month of the season wraps up.
The Dodgers, however, lost Enrique Hernández and Teoscar Hernández to injuries Wednesday. Enrique was sent back to the IL due to a “significant tear” in his oblique. Teoscar pulled up awkwardly in the second inning while trying to run out a ground ball, and was ruled out with a left hamstring injury.
The Dodgers will open a three-game series with the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday. Ohtani is scheduled to take the mound again on June 3 against the Diamondbacks.
While it’s still early, Ohtani looks like he’s still in peak form on both sides of the ball and ready to defend his three straight MVP titles again this season.
