The Los Angeles Dodgers were unable to complete a sweep of the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday despite Shohei Ohtani turning in a second consecutive quality start.
The two-way star allowed just one unearned run and four hits in six innings of work, striking out two and walking one on 96 pitches (60 strikes). He also drew a leadoff walk in the first inning, but was stranded on the bases.
As a result, Ohtani didn’t take the mound in the bottom of the first inning until less than a minute remained on the two-minute clock. He was given extra time to warm up — which is usually the case when Ohtani has an at-bat in the top half of a frame. It appeared to be to the chagrin of the Blue Jays, but Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic explained otherwise on “Foul Territory.”
"I was told by two people directly involved this morning that Springer was not complaining at all."@Ken_Rosenthal says George Springer was simply asking the home plate umpire for clarification that Shohei Ohtani indeed gets more time to warm up. pic.twitter.com/sdXb7j7bLH
— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) April 9, 2026
A belief that the Blue Jays were taking issue with Ohtani being afforded extra time stemmed from George Springer, who led off the bottom of the first inning, appearing to question home-plate umpire Dan Merzel. Cameras also showed Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shaking his head and wearing a look of frustration.
“Just talking about the World Series, I think obviously they were a little frustrated about how long Shohei takes in between innings,” Roberts said after the Dodgers’ 4-3 loss to the Blue Jays.
“But if he’s on the bases, there’s got to be some grace, which I think the umpires are trying to give him. But yeah, if you’re on the other side, you’re trying to rush him as much as possible and treat him like any other pitcher. But the truth is that he’s different. But I understand their gripe.”
Blue Jays manager John Schneider did take issue with how long Ohtani had to warm up in between innings during Game 7 of the 2025 World Series.
Shohei Ohtani extends streak while another ends
Despite going hitless in the series finale at Rogers Centre, Ohtani’s first-inning walk extended his on-base streak to 43 consecutive games dating back to last season, which tied Ichiro Suzuki (2009) for the most by a Japanese-born player.
The unearned run Ohtani allowed in the third inning ended his scoreless streak on the mound at 24.2 innings.
“It didn’t feel that great,” Ohtani said of his outing through interpreter Will Ireton on SportsNet LA. “It’s the end of a long road trip, so in that sense I’m just wanting to make sure that I’m recovering and feeling better.”
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