CINCINNATI — It was the cramp heard ’round the world.
Pitching into the fourth inning for the first time since returning from his second Tommy John surgery, Shohei Ohtani came out of the game after throwing six consecutive balls including two wild pitches. His loss of command brought Dodgers manager Dave Roberts out to the mound with a trainer and ended Ohtani’s seventh start after 51 pitches on a hot and humid night at Great American Ball Park.
Breath was held from Cincinnati to Los Angeles to Japan until Ohtani emerged from the dugout the following inning, stepping on deck to continue in the game as the Dodgers’ DH. He later said he had cramping in his right hip throughout the first four innings.
“I have an off day tomorrow. So I’m looking forward to recuperating and seeing how I feel,” Ohtani said through his interpreter, appearing largely unconcerned.
Count that as a big win for the Dodgers. It was the only win they got Tuesday night. A pair of near misses in the outfield fueled a three-run eighth inning as the Cincinnati Reds broke a tie and avoided a sweep by beating the Dodgers, 5-2.
Ohtani didn’t seem sharp from the beginning in his seventh pitching start of the season. He gave up a leadoff double to Gavin Lux and a run when Elly De La Cruz singled him home. He gave up two more hits in the second inning before retiring the side in order in the third inning.
“I felt it in the first inning,” Ohtani said, explaining that he has had cramping in his calves and hamstrings before but never a hip. “I just tried to work around it. I was able to do so up until the third and it didn’t quite work out for me.”
Noelvi Marte started the fourth inning by hitting a ground ball down the third-base line that went off Alex Freeland’s glove for a hit. Ohtani was done throwing strikes. His next six pitches missed the mark, two going for wild pitches to advance the runner, and Roberts came out. Ohtani left the mound, trainer in tow.
“I just saw a funky throw, the follow-through just didn’t look right,” Roberts said. “I think it was on the one right before that pitch I came out. And then he threw another pitch, and I just didn’t see the finish the right way. So I went out.
“In the moment, (it was) very concerning, because I didn’t know what it was. Even when he went out, he said it was his hip. But when you hear cramping, then I feel much better. And talked to him, and he said it was the humidity. So I feel better knowing that.”
Still, the mid-inning interruption to his start recalled the final start he made before undergoing his second Tommy John surgery in 2023. That was also against the Reds.
Ohtani is not scheduled to pitch again until next Wednesday, giving him a full week to recover – and likely better weather for his next start.
“I just really want to focus on just being able to recover well and feel good,” he said when asked about his next pitching assignment.
Anthony Banda replaced Ohtani and gave up a sacrifice fly that tied the score at 2-2, the Dodgers’ runs coming on a home run by Freddie Freeman in the top of the fourth.
The score stayed tied into the eighth inning. The Dodgers had an opportunity to break the tie in the top of the inning when they loaded the bases with one out. But Andy Pages popped out and Michael Conforto flew out.
Emmet Sheehan held the Reds hitless through the fifth, sixth and seventh innings but walked two in the eighth to put two runners on with two outs. Spencer Steer lofted a fly ball down the left field line near the high wall in foul territory. Pages jumped up and got his glove on it but couldn’t make the catch.
“Andy has done a great job for us. And it’s just a play that I know he wishes he had back and we didn’t make,” Roberts said. “And unfortunately, the at-bat didn’t finish, and Steer got another chance. That’s baseball right there.”
Three pitches later – on the 11th pitch of the at-bat – Sheehan left a fastball over the heart of the plate and Steer sent it over the wall in straightaway center field, but James Outman brought it back.
Outman leaped, reached over the wall and – like Pages – got his glove on the drive but couldn’t hold it. It caromed off his glove and back onto the warning track. Two runs scored on the triple to break the tie.
“It hit my glove,” Outman said of what would have been a spectacular catch.
“It’s a play I made before so I feel like I should have caught it.”
Blake Treinen replaced Sheehan and gave up an RBI single to Will Benson.
The game ended with Ohtani lining out to center field in the ninth. He was 1 for 13 in the three-game series and is batting .188 (19 for 101) in his past 26 games.
“The good thing about today’s outing is my pitch count was where I wanted it to be,” Ohtani said. “This is a step forward. I didn’t really feel great, to be honest, physically the last couple days.”