Ohtani Homers, Flirts With History, Critiques Himself Anyway

Shohei Ohtani walked off the mound Wednesday night looking more irritated than triumphant, which felt slightly absurd considering what had just happened around him.

Over six innings, Ohtani held the Rockies hitless, struck out seven and helped lead the Dodgers to a 4-1 victory that completed a three-game sweep at Dodger Stadium. He also opened the night by launching the third pitch of the game 424 feet into center field because apparently dominating on one side of baseball is no longer enough.

And yet by the sixth inning, Ohtani could be seen stomping around the mound in visible frustration, annoyed by a performance most pitchers would happily frame and hang on the wall.

That is the strange reality of watching Ohtani now. The standards have drifted so far from normal that six hitless innings somehow left him dissatisfied.

“My command was off,” Ohtani said afterward through interpreter Will Ireton. “I just felt like I was battling the lack of it and it led to frustration.”

The box score technically supported his complaint. Ohtani threw 99 pitches, only 56 for strikes, and issued four walks — his highest total of the season. He frequently worked behind in counts and never appeared fully comfortable with his fastball command.

Dave Roberts noticed it immediately.

“Tonight, for me, the fastball command wasn’t there,” Roberts said. “At times when it gets stressful, he makes the pitches he needs to, but then there are uncharacteristic walks in there and getting into bad counts.”

And still, the Rockies never recorded a hit against him.

That disconnect between appearance and outcome was what made the outing so fascinating. Ohtani looked agitated almost from the beginning, but every time Colorado threatened to turn his lack of command into damage, he simply overpowered them anyway.

Roberts pointed specifically to Ohtani’s fourth-inning battle with Ezequiel Tovar after a run scored on a groundout.

“Will had a visit,” Roberts said, “and then he went out there and dominated Tovar in that at-bat.”

That sequence largely captured the entire evening. Ohtani never seemed entirely pleased, never entirely settled, yet still remained untouchable when the game demanded it.

Meanwhile, the discussion about whether Roberts should have allowed him to chase the no-hitter after six innings almost overshadowed the other ridiculous part of the night: Ohtani had already homered before many fans had even reached their seats.

The blast was his 28th career leadoff homer and his second in as many starts where he also pitched. One week earlier in San Diego, he opened the game with a first-pitch homer before throwing five strong innings against the Padres. Wednesday brought a nearly identical reminder that baseball still has no historical comparison for what he is doing.

Freddie Freeman, who followed Ohtani’s homer with one of his own two batters later, sounded more appreciative than analytical afterward.

“I hope everyone realizes what an incredible thing this is to watch,” Freeman said. “As a fan of baseball, to see someone doing what Shohei is doing on the mound and in the batter’s box day in and day out, it’s special.”

Freeman finished 2-for-4 with an RBI, while Andy Pages continued his breakout stretch by going 2-for-4 and launching a solo homer in the eighth inning that disappeared toward left field with such urgency the Rockies’ outfielder barely bothered turning around. At that point, it was less a baseball and more an outbound flight.

Pages now leads the majors with 50 RBI, which would have sounded mildly fictional about two months ago.

The Dodgers bullpen took over after Ohtani exited and quietly continued what has become one of the more reliable patterns of the season. Will Klein handled the seventh inning, Tanner Scott carried the no-hit bid into the eighth before allowing Tyler Freeman’s two-out single, and Kyle Hurt finished the ninth for the first save of his major league career.

The combined effort held Colorado to one run and one hit while extending the Dodgers’ winning streak to five games.

But alongside the sweep came another injury concern.

Teoscar Hernández exited in the second inning after pulling up while running out a ground ball, immediately grabbing at his left hamstring as he crossed first base. The reaction alone made it fairly obvious this was not a day-to-day situation.

Roberts later confirmed Hernández will require an IL stint.

“It’s disappointing,” Roberts said. “He’s been playing so well and he’s a big part of what we’re doing. To lose him for any length of time is not great.”

The timing is especially unfortunate because Hernández had finally started looking like himself again after working through an extended slump.

Of course, this being the Dodgers, one injury simply means another roster adjustment arrives tomorrow morning.

And somehow, through all of it — the injuries, the pitching shortages, the constant reshuffling — they continue stacking wins anyway.

The Dodgers have now won five straight, completed their fifth sweep of the season and pushed their division lead to 4.5 games entering Thursdays off day.

Most teams would gladly take six hitless innings from a starter and spend the rest of the night celebrating.

Ohtani spent much of it annoyed with himself.

That competitive frustration, absurd as it looked at times, is probably part of what makes Ohtani different from everyone else.