Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani reached another career milestone at the plate in a 5-3 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals on Aug. 6.
Ohtani performed double duty on Wednesday afternoon, providing some offense with his 1,000th career hit – a home run – and serving as starting pitcher.
The Dodgers star supported his own pitching effort with the home run in the third inning, but the team’s offense struggled to remain consistent in the later innings.
The Dodgers’ offense cooled off in the final innings that followed the fast start. The Cardinals pulled ahead to take a 4-3 lead in the top of the eighth inning after the Dodgers had led 3-2.
The Dodgers bullpen struggled to follow Ohtani’s lead, allowing 10 hits, four runs (three earned), three walks while striking out just seven.
“It was a really close game throughout,” Ohtani said through his interpreter, Will Ireton. “I think it would’ve been a huge win for us if we were able to flip the script. I could’ve done better with the quality of at-bats in the middle part of the game.”
Shohei Ohtani’s 1,000th career hit
Ohtani’s 1,000th hit came in the bottom of the third and resulted in a two-run home run, bringing in Alex Call and giving the Dodgers a 2-1 lead. It was Ohtani’s 264th career home run.
He hit a 93 mph pitch from Matthew Liberatore and sent the ball to center field.
Shohei Ohtani’s pitching effort
Ohtani pitched four dominant innings, allowing just one run on two hits. One of those hits was a bunt single, while the other was an infield pop-up that managed to get lost in the sun.
Ohtani had a season-high eight strikeouts.
Ohtani told reporters after the game that it was big for him to be able to push through four innings on the mound.
He is not expected to pitch more than five innings per start during the regular season.
Ohtani has been the starting pitcher in eight games this season, recording a 2.37 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 25 strikeouts and five walks through 19 innings.
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