Ohtani secures first K's as a Dodger, then adds 5 RBIs

LOS ANGELES -- Sunday's starting pitcher for the Dodgers walked off the mound after a scoreless first inning. A couple of minutes later, he was standing in the batter's box to lead off the bottom half of the frame.

That's just the beginning of what amazes the Dodgers about Shohei Ohtani, two-way player.

Ohtani recorded his first two strikeouts as a Dodger in his second start of the season in Sunday's 13-7 series-clinching win over the Nationals. He tossed one inning on 18 pitches (12 strikes) and looked much sharper than he did when he made his highly anticipated return as a pitcher on Monday.

Ohtani also hit his 26th homer in the eighth inning -- after a crew chief review overturned the original double call -- to reclaim sole possession of the National League lead in home runs. Ohtani drove in five runs in all, also clearing the bases with a three-run triple in the seventh.

Before this week, it had been close to two years since Ohtani had been able to use his two-way capabilities in games. He's accustomed to doing both, but there's a bit of an adjustment period now that he's back in action on the mound.

"I've been able to come back to game action earlier than expected," Ohtani said through interpreter Will Ireton. "In that sense, I do feel like I do have to work on some things. But at the same time, I do feel like I can perform better, even better than I used to be able to perform."

Every Ohtani start day brings the Dodgers one step closer to seeing the fully actualized version of their superstar.

"I've seen bullpens and lives and simulated games, or whatever," manager Dave Roberts said, "but to watch it in real time, to go from the mound to the on-deck circle and then go to the batter's box, pretty remarkable. He's just handling it the right way, and he's just unflappable."

Ohtani only needed one pitch to retire his first batter of the game, getting CJ Abrams to ground out to first baseman Freddie Freeman. His second batter, James Wood, should have been his second out, but shortstop Mookie Betts lost a popup in the sun, and Wood was safe at first on the fielding error.

But that didn't seem to faze Ohtani. Luis García Jr. was Ohtani’s first strikeout victim after he couldn't hold back on a sweeper inside, and Nathaniel Lowe swung through a cutter for the third out of the frame.

Unlike in his season debut on the mound, there was no triple-digit heat from Ohtani this time around. Instead, his velocity was closer to where he wanted it, with his fastball averaging 97.9 mph and topping out at 98.8.

"The ball was coming out, his sweeper was really good, he was very effective," Nationals manager Dave Martinez said. "But that's what he does, he competes."

As productive as Ohtani was at the plate, the biggest hits of the afternoon belonged to Max Muncy.

After the Dodgers' offense was stifled through five innings, Muncy put his team in front with a grand slam in the sixth -- which was also his 200th home run as a Dodger -- and added on with a three-run blast in the seventh to give him a career-high-tying seven RBIs. Muncy also drove in seven runs on May 31 vs. the Yankees and April 10, 2023, vs. the Giants.

Before Sunday, only one player in franchise history had hit at least 10 homers and made at least two pitching appearances in the same season. It was not Ohtani, who was strictly a designated hitter in his first season with the Dodgers while recovering from right elbow surgery. It was Kiké Hernández, who went deep 12 times and pitched 4 1/3 innings in 2024.

Now Ohtani joins that club, having pitched an inning apiece in his first two starts for the Dodgers. Ohtani is essentially still rehabbing as a pitcher, but his buildup is occurring at the big league level rather than in simulated games.

Roberts acknowledged that he's not entirely sure what "fully built up" entails for a player like Ohtani. The idea is still to stretch him out, but much like his return to pitching, it will be slow and steady.

"It's going to be a gradual process," Ohtani said. "I want to see improvements with the quality of the pitches that I'm throwing, and then also increasing the amount of pitches. So it's going to be gradual."