by Megan Garcia
The intent on Wednesday was for Shohei Ohtani go deeper into a game. And he was moving toward that goal in the fourth inning in Cincinnati when cramping cut his night shorter.
Ohtani pitched into the fourth inning for the first time this season, but after allowing the first two Reds batters to reach in the frame and after missing wildly on the first two pitches to Cincinnati’s Spencer Steer, the Dodger two-way superstar was removed.
The hold-your-breath moment later was an exhale when Ohtani made his next at-bat as a designated hitter.
Ohtani felt like his start, though, was a step forward, despite the hip cramping.
“The good thing about today’s outing is my pitch count was where I wanted it to be,” Ohtani said. “I think this is a step forward in a sense.”
“I felt (the cramps) in the first inning and just tried to work around it, and I was able to do so up until the third,” Ohtani added.
Manager Dave Roberts said the target is for Ohtani to start again on Aug. 6 against the Cardinals.
In three-plus innings on Wednesday, Ohtani gave up five hits, two earned runs, two walks and struck out four batters. His 51 pitches were a season high.
“You could see him banging on his hip to loosen it up. I don’t know how long he’s been dealing with it,” Roberts said. “He mentioned to me the humidity made his body respond in a certain way.”
Freddie Freeman gave the Dodgers a 2–1 lead in the top of the fourth inning with his first homer in 25 games. Freeman is batting .354/.444/.452/.896 over his last eight games. That was it for the run scoring.
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Emmet Sheehan kept the Reds scoreless for 3 2/3 innings after Ohtani, but Steer was the back-breaker. He battled the Dodger right-hander to 11 pitches, including a foul ball that was nearly caught at the wall by Andy Pages in left field. It would have ended the inning. Steer hit a fly ball that would have been a three-run home run, but James Outman leaped in center field and nearly caught the ball. Instead, Outman knocked the ball back and down.
It was a two-run triple.
The Dodgers took two of three from the Reds. They head to Tampa Bay for a three-game series beginning Friday to end the nine-game road trip. The Dodgers end July 10–14.
Dodgers leave Cincinnati and July on the wrong side was originally published in Dodger Insider on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.