Shohei Ohtani did not have a great outing against the Pittsburgh Pirates on June 10. In fact, he stumbled a bit in his bid for his 7th win.
Shohei Ohtani is human, after all.
The total dominance of Los Angeles Dodgers right-handed pitcher Shohei Ohtani on the mound this season has been almost unbelievable.
Until he faced a determined Pittsburgh Pirates team on June 10, in Pittsburgh.
Ohtani has proven he is, indeed, human.
Ohtani entered the Pittsburgh game with a 6-2 record in 10 starts for the Dodgers.
Ohtani had a minuscule 0.74 ERA, and 0.78 WHIP in his 61 innings pitched.
Ohtani had struck out an average of 9.9 hitters per nine innings, while walking only 1.7 batters per nine.
Ohtani had been in total control all season on the mound.
In his June 3 start against the Arizona Diamondbacks in Phoenix, Ohtani had the Diamondbacks players totally off-balanced. He changed the eye levels of the hitters, and threw six innings of two hit baseball. He struck out six, and walked one.
In the game against Arizona, Ohtani threw 89 pitches, with 58 of them for strikes.
Fast forward to the June 10 game, and Ohtani had a much different outing.
The Pirates scored four runs, on six hits, and three walks in 6.2 innings against Shohei on June 10, in contrast to his superb Phoenix outing.
Ohtani threw 102 pitches, with 61 of them strikes.
One of the hits was a home run by right fielder Tyler Callahan. It was only the second homer yielded by Ohtani all season.
Ohtani saw his earned run average climb to 1.06, and his WHIP rose to 0.84 after the Pirates seemed to have their way with his offerings.
When Ohtani left the game, the Dodgers had a lead.
Ohtani did not get a decision in the game, as the Pirates went on to defeat Los Angels by a final score of 9-8, as they rallied for three runs in the seventh inning, and five more in the eighth.
In the five starts prior to Ohtani’s start against the Pirates, he yielded a total of three runs. That’s three runs in five starts. In three games, he yielded no runs.
He lost a game against the Houston Astros May 5, by a score of 2-1.
He defeated the San Francisco Giants May 13, 4-0.
He defeated the San Diego Padres May 20, 4-0.
He defeated the Colorado Rockies May 27, 4-1.
He defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks June 3, 7-0.
Then on Wednesday, June 10, Ohtani got the no decision in the Dodgers 9-8 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates.
There wasn’t anything wrong with Ohtani’s offense in the Pirates game.
He hit his 12th homer of the season in the 9th inning. It was a two-run blast off lefty Gregory Soto. He also singled, scored a run, and had two RBIs for the evening.
Ohtani’s home run in the 9th inning made the score Pittsburgh 9, Los Angeles 8. That’s how the game ended.
Conclusions Regarding Los Angeles Dodgers Shohei Ohtani’s Game Against Pittsburgh:
One should not make more of the Ohtani outing against the Pirates than it was.
The game wasn’t his best on the mound.
It showed that even Shohei Ohtani can have an outing that doesn’t quite meet his norm.
He did, however, have two hits, including a two-run homer and single in the game.
There remains little doubt in this old scout’s mind that Shohei Ohtani remains the best baseball player on the planet. Ever.