Shohei Ohtani was back on the mound Wednesday afternoon for his eighth start of the season as the St. Louis Cardinals and Los Angeles Dodgers played the rubber match of their series at Dodger Stadium.
The outing was Ohtani’s first since leaving the game as a pitcher last week because of cramping in his right hip. Ohtani revealed he initially attempted to pitch through the issue before being removed after facing two batters in the fourth inning.
Ohtani recovered from the minor issue and remained on track to pitch Wednesday. The Dodgers again set the goal for Ohtani to complete four innings.
“He feels good. I haven’t heard anything as far as any carryover from Cincinnati. Obviously, he’s played every day, hitting, running well,” manager Dave Roberts said Wednesday morning. “I think it’s going to be a full four innings, and we’ll go from there.”
Ohtani managed to accomplish exactly that and finished with eight strikeouts, both of which were season-highs. It was an efficient outing as he threw 54 pitches in the start, which also are Ohtani’s most this season. Ohtani’s fastest pitch was a 101.1 mph fastball to Pedro Pagés in the third inning.
Ohtani’s start began with some defensive help behind him as Alex Call made a catch while crashing into the wall in left field and Andy Pages followed that by tracking one down in the gap. Ohtani ended the first inning with a 99.7 mph fastball that got Alec Burleson swinging for strike three.
Ohtani then retired the Cardinals in order on just 10 pitches in the second inning, picking up two more strikeouts in the process.
Jordan Walker’s pop-up got lost in the sun and dropped for a leadoff single in the third to give the Cardinals their first baserunner of the game, and Brendan Donovan’s RBI bunt single with two outs broke up the scoreless tie.
Ohtani struck out the side in the fourth inning to punctuate his outing.
Prior to his game against the Cardinals, Ohtani’s longest start of the season was his three-plus innings at Great American Ball Park last week. That night also saw him throw 51 pitches, which were Ohtani’s most in a single start so far in 2025 before he faced St. Louis.
Wednesday’s start coincided with the Shohei Ohtani World Series replica ring giveaway at Dodger Stadium. Like with other Ohtani giveaways, fans began to line up outside the stadium multiple hours before first pitch.
The Dodgers have not yet announced when Ohtani will make his next start. However, if remaining on the current schedule that’s now been in place two weeks in a row to seemingly maximize an off day, Ohtani conceivably will next pitch against the Los Angeles Angels on Aug. 13.
Shohei Ohtani 1,000 career hits
Ohtani picked up Rojas by getting the run back, plus one extra, with a two-run homer in the bottom of the third. That gave Ohtani 1,000 career hits, making him the third Japanese-born player to reach that total. Ichiro Suzuki (3,089 career hits) and Hideki Matsui (1,253) also did so.
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