LOS ANGELES (AP) — Shohei Ohtani gave up an early run in his pitching debut for the Los Angeles Dodgers, but quickly made up for it at the plate with two clutch hits and a pair of RBIs in a 6-3 victory over the San Diego Padres on Monday night.
The two-way superstar averaged 96.8 mph on nine fastballs and threw 28 pitches in the first inning, 21 months after right elbow surgery. It was his first outing since August 2023 with the Angels.
Manny Machado’s sacrifice fly against Ohtani drove in the Padres’ first run.
Ohtani’s RBI double with two outs in the third tied the score at 1. He added another two-out hit, a run-scoring single during the Dodgers’ five-run fourth, when they took a 6-2 lead. He also struck out twice and walked.
Anthony Banda replaced Ohtani on the mound in the second, and Ben Casparius (5-1) got the win with 3 2/3 innings of relief.
Padres starter Dylan Cease (2-6) retired his first six batters, including five straight strikeouts. Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman went down swinging in order in the first.
Cease gave up six runs and eight hits in five innings and struck out nine.
San Diego took a 2-1 lead on Xander Bogaerts’ RBI double in the fourth.
The Dodgers got to Cease in the bottom of the inning. Max Muncy, Tommy Edman, Ohtani and Betts sprayed RBI singles to all parts of the field.
Machado hit a leadoff homer in the sixth.
Key moment
Cease hit Andy Pages with a pitch with one out in the fourth. Pages stared at Cease, who tossed up his arms in an “I didn’t mean it” gesture, and Pages motioned with his right arm. The umpires moved in, with one of them standing in front of Cease on the mound. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts came on the field and Pages again stared at Cease while making his way to first base.
Key stat
Ohtani became the third National League player since 1900 to start a game as a pitcher and serve as his team’s leadoff hitter. He joined Jim Jones in 1901 and Alvin Dark in 1953, according to MLB Network.
Up next
Padres RHP Randy Vásquez (3-4, 3.57 ERA) starts Tuesday. The Dodgers are likely to go with a bullpen game.
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