Shohei Ohtani pitched his deepest into a game in three seasons, but got very little offensive support in the Dodgers’ 2-1 loss to the Houston Astros on Tuesday night at Daikin Park.
Ohtani was efficient on the mound with eight strikeouts and no walks. Not only did he record an out in the seventh inning for the first time with the Dodgers, he completed seven innings on only 89 pitches. It’s his longest pitching start since pitching a shutout on July 27, 2023 with the Angels.
Ohtani didn’t allow a home
run in any of his first five starts this season. That streak ended on Tuesday with an expected source, as Christian Walker crushed a ball in the second inning, his 30th career home run in 95 games and 352 plate appearances against the Dodgers. Ohtani’s second home run allowed came shortly after, when Braden Shewmake hooked one just over the left field wall into the Crawford Boxes, akin to Alex Freeland’s home run for the Dodgers in Monday’s series opener.
Those were the only two runs against Ohtani, whose ERA skyrocketed up to 0.97. He leads the National League in ERA again, as he has after each of his six starts this season. And pitching seven innings means he’ll be on the leaderboard through Thursday, with Ohtani now at 37 innings, the Dodgers playing their 37th game on Wednesday before the off day.
Snapping their home run drought at six games with an eight-run effort on Monday was not the start of an offensive turnaround for the Dodgers, who have been held to two or fewer runs five times in their last seven games.
The Dodgers did not score in seven innings against former San Dimas High School pitcher Peter Lambert, who allowed 27 runs in 24 innings in seven previous career outings against them while with the Colorado Rockies. Lambert walked four and allowed three hits but none of those runners came home.
It took until the eighth inning, against the Astros bullpen, for the Dodgers to score their first run. Pinch-hitter Alex Call opened the frame with a double, and scored on a two-out single by Kyle Tucker. That tally snapped a string of 19 straight innings without a run by the Dodgers offense while Ohtani was in the game on the mound.
The Dodgers have scored eight total runs with Ohtani still in the game as a pitcher in his six starts, and 17 runs total in those starts, which goes a long way in explaining how the team has lost four of six games for their starting pitcher with the sub-1.00 ERA.
The original plan was for Ohtani to pull double duty on Tuesday, but during Monday’s game manager Dave Roberts made the change, opting to have Ohtani only pitch this game, as he works through another slump at the plate. Ohtani has pitched twice since his last hit, going 0-for-17 over his last five games hitting, though with six walks, a hit by pitch, and four strikeouts.
Trying to manage Ohtani’s two-way workload remains a nuanced challenge that the Dodgers are figuring out as they go. Roberts before Tuesday’s game was asked whether the team has weighed whether Ohtani’s greatest value is as a pitcher or as a hitter.
“I try not to get too far in the weeds on that, because it’s moot. He’s going to do both,” Roberts said, as shown on SportsNet LA. “He’s one of our best pitchers, he’s one of our best hitters.”
Ohtani continued to prove the former on Tuesday, and he’ll have a chance to turn things around at the plate on Wednesday, along with his lineup mates.
Tuesday particulars
Home runs: Christian Walker (9), Braden Shewmake (2)
WP — Peter Lambert (2-2): 7 IP, 3 hits, 4 walks, 4 strikeouts
LP — Shohei Ohtani (2-2): 7 IP, 4 hits, 2 runs, 8 strikeouts
Sv — Bryan King (3): 2 IP, 3 hits, 1 run, 2 strikeouts
Up next
One more game remains on the road trip, with Tyler Glasnow pitching on his third straight afternoon getaway day on Wednesday (11:10 a.m. PT; SportsNet LA, MLB Network). Lance McCullers Jr. starts for Houston.
