SAN FRANCISCO — Ohtani Dominates, But Dodgers Fall Short

On Wednesday night, Shohei Ohtani had the San Francisco Giants’ offense in a bind for six innings.

However, once he exited the game, everything flipped.

Ohtani’s impressive pitching was the only silver lining in the Dodgers’ 3-0 defeat at Oracle Park, marking their fourth loss in the last five matches.

Even as Ohtani closed out the sixth inning without allowing a run, the team’s batting and bullpen couldn’t muster any backing, which set the stage for a Giants’ comeback in the seventh inning.

After tossing 91 pitches, Ohtani handed the ball to left-handed reliever Jack Dryer, who quickly ran into trouble. The first two batters he faced managed to get singles. Following a sacrifice bunt, he served up a slider to Patrick Bailey. This former No. 9 batter connected for a decisive three-run homer.

In contrast, the Dodgers were unable to create any offensive magic, finishing the night with just four hits—a shutout loss for the first time this season.

Giants’ starter Tyler Marr kept the Dodgers at bay, turning in seven scoreless innings and not allowing any runners in scoring position after the fourth.

Ohtani had his own challenges at the plate, going 0-for-4 and extending a streak of 53 consecutive games without reaching base.

What It Means

This loss solidifies a tough road trip for the Dodgers, who ended the week with a 2-4 record against both the Giants and the Colorado Rockies.

Now, they’re also facing the risk of not securing their first winning series of the season.

This wasn’t the outcome they anticipated while going up against two teams under .500.

Who Is Hot

Definitely, it’s Ohtani. His six scoreless innings demonstrated a strong start to the season. He struck out seven, allowed only five hits, and didn’t walk a single batter. His fastball consistently reached a season-high of 98.8 mph, hitting that mark seven times. Impressively, he induced nine whiffs out of the Giants’ 15 swings with his sweepers.

By the end of the night, he even showed a bit of emotion after striking out Casey Schmidt while ending the sixth inning with runners on second and third—fist pumps and all as he spun off the mound.

Over four starts, Ohtani has allowed just one earned run in 24 innings, boasting a 0.38 ERA and 25 strikeouts.

Who Is Not?

As for the Dodgers’ offense, it’s been quite lackluster, including Ohtani himself. He tied with Sean Green, at 53 games, but wasn’t able to set a new record for consecutive on-base streaks in franchise history.

There were other disappointments as well: Kyle Tucker also went 0-for-4, as did Teoscar Hernandez and Hye-sung Kim, who squandered the team’s best chances of the night. Hernandez grounded out to second in the first, and Kim did similarly in the fourth, leading to a double play.

Freddie Freeman had a decent night, going 2-for-4, but the rest of the team managed just 2 hits out of 27 at-bats.

To The Next

The Dodgers are looking to avoid their first sweep of the season in the final game of the series Thursday afternoon. Tyler Glasnow (2-0, 3.24 ERA) is set to pitch against Logan Webb (2-2, 5.40 ERA), with the first pitch scheduled for 12:45 p.m.