Shohei Ohtani pitches 10-strikeout gem as Dodgers sweep Mets

Even with a reliever warm for the sixth inning on Wednesday, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts decided to ride with Shohei Ohtani.

On the rare night he wasn’t in the lineup as a hitter, the four-time MVP responded with a breathless exhibition of pure pitching dominance.

In the Dodgers’ 8-2 win over the New York Mets, Ohtani helped complete a three-game series sweep with six spectacular innings on the mound.

He gave up just one run. He allowed only two hits. And in a 10-strikeout exhibition, he saved his best stuff for the end of the night –– striking out the side in the top of the sixth with a swing-and-miss fastball, then curveball, then splitter.

Good morning, good afternoon and a very good night.

That was the story Wednesday, with the Dodgers (14-4) continuing their scorching hot start to the season even without the help of Ohtani’s bat.

As the two-way star continues to nurse a shoulder bruise he suffered on a hit-by-pitch Monday, the Dodgers decided to simplify his task, taking him out of the batting order so he could solely focus on his duties as a pitcher.

The move paid off perfectly, with Ohtani turning in perhaps his best start this year (despite allowing his first earned run of the campaign) while his DH replacement, Dalton Rushing, led the way offensively with a double and a grand slam.

In Ohtani’s 95-pitch gem, he dotted his upper-90s mph fastball at the top of the zone, then dropped in big-bending sweepers and late-breaking curveballs and fall-of-the-table splitters to complement it. 

The few times he faced stress, he also reared back and dialed up triple-digit heat, highlighted by four-straight 100 mph fastballs in the fifth inning to strand runners at second and third base.

The exclamation point came in the sixth inning, when he struck out the side and left the game to a loud ovation. 

And from there, the Dodgers’ offense took care of the rest.

Rushing had helped get the scoring started in the second, lining a two-out double that preceded a two-run homer from Hyeseong Kim. Then, after a Tesocar Hernández homer in the sixth extended the lead, the backup catcher delivered the knockout punch in a five-run eighth inning, belting his first career grand slam off Mets closer Devin Williams.

For the Dodgers, it was all part of a nearly flawless night, hardly missing Ohtani’s bat while marveling at his electric right arm.

What it means

The Dodgers completed their second sweep of the season, and have now won 10 of 12 games by finishing this homestand with a 5-1 record.

They are also 9-0 against National League opponents to this point, making easy work of a Mets team that –– prior to their dreadful 7-12 start to this season –– was thought to be their biggest competition for this year’s pennant.

Outside of Ohtani, the Dodgers displayed the reasons behind their hot start in other ways Wednesday. 

Their defense was largely excellent again, highlighted by a couple tough short-hoppers that Max Muncy cleanly turned at third base, then a diving stop from Kim at shortstop to end the eighth inning. 

The bottom of their lineup remained productive, with Rushing’s 2-for-4 display highlighting a six-hit effort from their Nos. 6-9 batters.

Who’s hot

If Ohtani’s surface-line stats weren’t impressive enough, the way he navigated Wednesday’s start only added to the performance.

Several times, he seemingly toyed with a Juan Soto-less Mets lineup that has scored just 12 runs during an eight-game losing streak.

He used a slide step on a strikeout of Francisco Lindor in the third. He ran the pitch clock down against Brett Baty in the fourth before getting him to hit a harmless comebacker to the mound.

After spending much of the past two years recovering from a second Tommy John surgery, it was a further reminder that the 31-year-old is quickly getting comfortable again as a full-time pitcher –– helping him finish the night with a 0.50 ERA this season.

Who’s not

This was going to be Kyle Tucker, after he entered the eighth inning 0-for-4. But even the scuffling $240 million offseason signing salvaged his night with a nice stat-padding swing, hitting his first Dodger Stadium home run this season on a line drive to right field.

Still, the Dodgers are waiting on Tucker to truly heat up, with his game-winning hit on Tuesday failing to snap him out of his early-season slump

Defensively, Tucker also had a forgettable moment in the fifth, when MJ Melendez plated the Mets’ only run off Ohtani with an RBI double that Tucker failed to get to in the right field corner.

Up next

The Dodgers are off Thursday, before starting a week-long road trip Friday with a four-game set in Denver against the Colorado Rockies. That will be followed by a three-game series in San Francisco against the Giants.

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