Shohei Ohtani leaves pitching start because of cramping, Dodgers go on to lose to Reds
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CINCINNATI — The Dodgers lost the game Wednesday night.
What was more important, however, was that they didn’t lose their two-way star.
In the Dodgers’ 5-2 defeat to the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park, Shohei Ohtani left the mound alongside a trainer in the fourth inning with what the team later said was only cramping — a worrying scene in the moment, quickly alleviated by a seemingly benign injury announcement.
Ohtani remained in the game as a designated hitter, going 0-for-5 on the night.
The rest of the Dodgers’ lineup didn’t do much better, with Freddie Freeman’s two-run home run in the top of the fourth inning representing their only scoring.
It was a half-inning later that Ohtani’s injury scare occurred.
After giving up just one run in his first three frames on a hot, humid 90-degree night in Cincinnati, Ohtani lost his command and looked noticeably uncomfortable following a leadoff single in the fourth.
He walked Tyler Stephenson on four pitches, two of which missed so badly they got past catcher Will Smith for wild pitches.
He started his next batter, Spencer Steer, with two more balls.
That prompted manager Dave Roberts, head athletic trainer Thomas Albert and interpreter Will Ireton to come to the mound, where the four talked as the rest of the infield gathered around them.
“You can see him kind of banging his hip, trying to loosen it up,” Roberts said. “In the moment, [it was] very concerning, because I didn’t know what it was.”
Considering how much the Dodgers have struggled lately, they’ll need every bit of Shohei Ohtani’s talent on the mound and at the plate as he continues to build up as a pitcher.
After a few moments, Ohtani then headed to the dugout, but not the clubhouse, to end his outing after a season-high 51 pitches.
“I just saw a funky throw, the follow-through just didn’t look right; I think it was on the one right before that pitch I came out,” Roberts said. “And then he threw another pitch, and I just didn’t see the finish the right way. So I went out.”
Back in the dugout, however, Ohtani assured the Dodgers staff he was only dealing with cramps, and that he would be able to finish the game as a hitter.
“When you hear cramping, then I feel much better,” Roberts said. “He said it was the humidity. So I feel better knowing that.”
Wednesday was only the seventh pitching start of the season for Ohtani, who was limited to DH duties for the first two and a half months of the season while completing his recovery from a second career Tommy John surgery he had near the end of the 2023 campaign.
It was also the two-way star’s first time pitching into the fourth inning, after throwing one inning in each of his first two outings, two innings in the next two, and two more in his last pair of appearances.
“The good thing about today’s outing is my pitch count was where I wanted it to be,” Ohtani said. “This is a step forward.”
Early in Wednesday’s game, Ohtani wasn’t using his 100-mph fastball as often as normal, opting instead for sweepers on more than half of his throws. It didn’t seem to have much of an effect on his results. After Gavin Lux doubled to lead off the game, and Elly De La Cruz drove him home with a single, Ohtani posted zeros in both the second and third innings, retiring eight of his next 10 batters while racking up four strikeouts.
“I didn’t really feel great, to be honest, physically the last couple days,” Ohtani said, amid sweltering summer conditions along the banks of the Ohio River. “I have an off day tomorrow. So looking forward to recuperating and seeing how I feel.”
Roberts said he expects Ohtani to make his next scheduled pitching start next Wednesday.
“There just didn’t seem like there’s any upside in having him try to get through that inning [tonight],” Roberts added.
After exiting in the fourth, the Reds scored one of the inherited runners Ohtani left behind, giving him a final line of three-plus inning, two runs, five hits, two walks and four strikeouts. His season ERA is now 2.40 in 15 innings.
The score remained tied 2-2 until the bottom of the eighth, when Steer hit a go-ahead two-run triple off reliever Emmet Sheehan. In the 11-pitch, two-out at-bat, Steer stayed alive after Andy Pages dropped a fly ball up against the left-field wall in foul territory.
“Andy has done a great job for us,” Roberts said. “It’s just a play that I know he wishes he had back and we didn’t make.”
Indeed, Steer then made the Dodgers pay with a 403-foot drive to center, where James Outman climbed the wall and kept the ball in play but failed to secure the catch for what would’ve been the inning’s final out.
“It’s a play I made before so I feel like I should have caught it,” Outman said of what would have been a highlight-reel catch. “Just kind of jumped and missed it in the air.”
The loss prevented the Dodgers (63-46) from completing what would’ve been their first series sweep since the start of July. It ended a disappointing month that saw the team go just 10-14, narrowing their lead in the National League West to only three games.
Still, given the concern that initially accompanied Ohtani’s early exit as a pitcher, the evening could’ve been so much worse.
The Dodgers now enter trade deadline day still in need of a right-handed reliever, and potentially another hitter to round out their lineup — but also knowing their two-way star appears to be OK.
“I don’t have any concerns,” Roberts said of Ohtani.
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