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[MyDaily = Reporter Shim Hye-jin] Shohei Ohtani delivered a rare, dominant two-way performance for the LA Dodgers and created a new entry in Major League Baseball history during the league’s 125th season.
Ohtani took the mound as the Dodgers’ starting pitcher on May 21 (KST) at Petco Park in San Diego, California, facing the San Diego Padres on the road.
On the mound he worked five scoreless innings, allowing three hits and two walks while striking out four, lowering his season ERA to 0.73.
At the plate he went 1-for-4 with a home run, one RBI, one walk, one strikeout and two runs scored, lifting his season batting average to .272.
Batting leadoff in the first inning, Ohtani opened the game with a leadoff homer, providing immediate run support for himself.
According to MLB.com’s Sarah Langs, since 1900 a starting pitcher has batted in the No. 1 spot just three times. Ohtani became the first starting pitcher in regular-season history to bat leadoff and hit a leadoff home run — a milestone claim in MLB record books.
That kind of feat had previously occurred only in the postseason — and it was Ohtani who did it. In Game 4 of last year’s National League Championship Series against Milwaukee, Ohtani started and went on to hit three home runs, including a leadoff shot.
With the Dodgers leading 2-0 and runners on first and second with one out in his second plate appearance, Ohtani flied out to center. Leading off the fourth, he drew a walk. He moved to second on Mookie Betts’ walk, advanced to third on Freddie Freeman’s grounder, and scored on Kyle Tucker’s RBI single.
Leading off the seventh against reliever Yuki Matsui, Ohtani popped out to short. He struck out with two outs in the ninth.
On the mound, Ohtani retired the side in order in the first. He induced a groundout back to the pitcher on Fernando Tatis Jr., struck out Miguel Andújar swinging and struck out Gavin Sheets to end the inning.
After Teoscar Hernández’s sacrifice fly put the Dodgers up 2-0, Ohtani continued to pitch efficiently in the second, getting Manny Machado to ground out to short, Xander Bogaerts to ground out to second and Jackson Merrill looking for a strikeout.
The third inning followed suit: Nick Castellanos flied out to right, Ramón Laureano struck out and Freddy Fermín flied out to left.
Ohtani ran into his first trouble in the fourth when he walked the leadoff batter, Tatis Jr. He erased the lead runner on a groundout to first by Andújar, then surrendered a hit to Sheets. With one out and runners on first and second, he escaped without damage by getting Machado to fly out to third and Bogaerts to fly out to center.
In the fifth, holding a three-run lead after Kyle Tucker’s RBI, Ohtani surrendered consecutive hits to Bryce Johnson and Nick Castellanos. He induced Laureano into a grounder back to the pitcher, who threw to second for the force and then retired Castellanos. Laureano stole second and Ohtani then walked Freddy Fermín, creating a bases-loaded, one-out jam. He escaped by inducing a one-pitch double play on Tatis Jr., ending the inning unscathed.
Ohtani was lifted to start the sixth and was replaced by Edgard Enriquez.
The bullpen held the line the rest of the way, and the Dodgers closed out a 4-0 victory. Ohtani earned the win, his fourth of the season.
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