All eyes were on Dodger Stadium Monday night as two-way player Shohei Ohtani took the mound for the first time since 2023.
“They were watching the Show,” Padres third baseman Manny Machado said after the game, via the San Diego Union-Tribune. “Everyone was expecting this first outing. Everyone was ready for this. And it was pretty special.”
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Ohtani pitched one inning during the Dodgers’ 6-3 victory over the San Diego Padres. The right-handed starting pitcher allowed one run and two hits across his outing.
That one run came from Machado’s sacrifice fly that scored outfielder Fernando Tatis Jr. Fans were frustrated as Ohtani could have struck out Machado before he gave the Padres an early lead.
However, the umpire ruled Machado’s checked swing as a no swing, giving the six-time All-Star another chance to bring Tatis Jr. home.
The Dodgers ultimately came back to defeat the Padres with a dominant five-run rally in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Ohtani contributed two hits and two runs to Los Angeles’ offensive outburst. And when he reached third base, he jokingly asked Machado about the controversial call during his first inning at-bat.
“He was asking me if I went or not,” Machado said. “It’s about time the umpires went on our side. They’ve been kind of grinding us for a little bit, not giving us any calls. So I’m glad one went our way. We got a run across the board.”
The two All-Stars laughed about the call, despite the high tensions earlier in the game.
Machado also praised Ohtani for his performance in his first outing after two major elbow surgeries and, most recently, shoulder surgery in November.
“He’s still far from what he’s what he’s expected to do,” Machado said. “We’re not even going to take this into account. It’s just a small sample size. Looking forward to facing him down the road.”
Ohtani threw 28 pitches against San Diego, logging 16 strikes. Although he allowed an earned run, two hits and threw no strikeouts, he reached 100.2 mph with his fastball and 14 pitches were at least 98 mph.
Only rookie starting pitcher Roki Sasaki has thrown a faster pitch for the Dodgers this season, hitting 100.5 mph. Reliever Michael Kopech has also hit 100.2 mph this season.
The Dodgers plan to start Ohtani once a week, progressively increasing the length of his outings.
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