LAD, who suffered a come-from-behind loss despite Ohtani's strong pitching and hitting performance in four innings, is really angry. A colleague blamed himself

Aug 07, 2025

LAD, who suffered a come-from-behind loss despite Ohtani's strong pitching and hitting performance in four innings, is really angry. A colleague blamed himself
LA Dodgers Shohei Ohtani makes his eighth start of the season against the St. Louis Cardinals at Dodger Stadium on the 7th (Korea time) and sprays the ball vigorously. ImagesYonhap News



LAD, who suffered a come-from-behind loss despite Ohtani's strong pitching and hitting performance in four innings, is really angry. A colleague blamed himself
Shohei Otani is looking at the ball after hitting a come-from-behind two-run home run in the bottom of the third inning, trailing 0-1. AFP Yonhap News
The LA Dodgers lost despite Shohei Ohtani's strong pitching and hitting performance.

Ohtani started the home game against the St. Louis Cardinals at Dodger Stadium on the 7th (Korea time), and pitched four innings of two hits and one run as a pitcher, and hit a two-run shot as a batter to reach the top of the 1,000-run mark. However, the Dodgers came from behind to lose 3-5 due to bullpen difficulties.

Ohtani, who took the mound for the eighth time since returning as a pitcher, overwhelmed St. Louis batters with his perfect control and powerful ball, striking out eight without giving up any four outs.




His fastball speed of 31 out of 54 pitches was up to 101.1 miles (162.7 kilometers) and an average of 98.9 miles. There are six more than 100 miles. I used 10 sweepers and sliders each, 2 sinkers and 1 splitter. Of the 26 swings swung by St. Louis batters, 13 were swings and misses.

Ohtani, who slowed down by allowing five hits and two runs in three innings against the Cincinnati Reds on the 31st of last month, pitched four innings for the first time this season, getting close to the starting pitcher's true trajectory. Ohtani threw 19 innings in eight games with a 2.37 ERA, 25 strikeouts, a 0.225 hit rate and a WHIP of 1.11.

LAD, who suffered a come-from-behind loss despite Ohtani's strong pitching and hitting performance in four innings, is really angry. A colleague blamed himself
오타니 쇼헤이. ImagesYonhap News
In the top of the first inning, left fielder Alex Cole ran back and caught Brendan Donovan's well-hit ball to help Ohtani. Ohtani then handled Ivan Herrera with a fly ball to center field and then poked left-handed batter Alec Burlison into the strike zone of his body with a 99.7-mile fastball on the fourth pitch to end the inning lightly with a rookie strikeout. Ohtani, who also cooked with three outs in the second inning, lost a point first in the third inning.




Second baseman Miguel Rojas failed to catch leader Jordan Walker's infield fly due to sunlight interference, making a hit. With Walker's stolen base, Ohtani struck out Pedro Parz with a swing and miss, and Victor Scott II with a ground ball to the second base to get out of the woods with two outs and a third base, but Donovan hit a surprise bunt on the 100.1-mile fastball toward the third base, and Walker homered and scored.

However, Ohtani sprayed Herrera low with an 89-mile slider to strike out swinging, preventing additional runs.

LAD, who suffered a come-from-behind loss despite Ohtani's strong pitching and hitting performance in four innings, is really angry. A colleague blamed himself
Tani Shohei hits a come-from-behind two-run home run in the bottom of the third inning and high-fives with his teammates with a humorous look. AP Yonhap News
However, Ohtani hit a come-from-behind two-run home run to make up for the score he gave up in the attack in the bottom of the third inning. The leadoff Alex Cole doubled to the right and Alex Freeland was out for a foul fly, with one out and runners on second base. Ohtani, who then took the batter's box for the second time, hit a 92.8-mile sinker that was bent toward the third pitch of Matthew Liberatore, the opponent's left-hander, and crossed the center fence well. He hit his 39th home run of the season, which is 33 degrees in firing angle, 109.5 miles in batting speed, and 440 feet in distance.




With this home run, Ohtani put the flag on his 1,000th career hit in eight years since his Major League debut in 2018. He is the third Japanese batter after Ichiro Suzuki (3089) and Hideki Matsui (1253).

It is the first time in 11 days that Ohtani hit a home run since the match against the Boston Red Sox on the 27th of last month. He is close to Kyle Schwarber (40), the Philadelphia Phillies leading in home runs in the NL.

Ohtani, who relieved the burden, roared by striking out all three batters in the top of the fourth inning. He struck out lead Burlison with an 88.6-mile outside slider to foul-tip strikeouts, Las Nutba with an 88.6-mile slider to fall outside, and then struck out Meisin Wynn with an 85.7-mile manned sweeper to swing and miss.

Ohtani handed over the mound to left-hander Justin Roblesky in the top of the fifth inning with a 3-1 lead. Ohtani, who changed his position to a designated hitter after recording a first baseman error on base in the bottom of the first inning and a home run in the third inning, struck out in the seventh inning following a walk in the fifth inning, ending the game with one hit, one walk, two RBIs and one run in three at-bats. He hit .276 (122 hits in 442 at-bats), 39 homers, 75 RBIs, 106 runs, 16 steals, and an OPS of 0.987.

LAD, who suffered a come-from-behind loss despite Ohtani's strong pitching and hitting performance in four innings, is really angry. A colleague blamed himself
St. Louis Las Nutba celebrates after hitting a double to seal the victory in the top of the ninth inning. AFP Yonhap News
Even though Ohtani laid the groundwork for victory in the pitching, the Dodgers allowed a chase after the middle and suffered a come-from-behind loss.

St. Louis made up for one point with Nootba's ground ball to shortstop with runners on first and third bases with no outs in the top of the sixth inning, trailing 1-3, and then succeeded in turning the tables 4-3, with Walker's timely hit with two outs and runners on first and second bases in the top of the eighth inning and Dodgers third baseman Freeland's bad pitch. In the ninth inning, Nootba's timely double added a run to seal the victory.

After the game, Ohtani said "I personally think today was a very important game. I pitched four innings. It was a really good game to build up (as a starting pitcher)."

Regarding the come-from-behind loss on the day, Rojas said "I'm really disappointed," and Freeland, who made an error and hit a ground ball in his last at-bat in the ninth inning and failed to connect to Ohtani's batting order, blamed himself "I tried to make Ohtani come to the plate somehow"

Manager Dave Roberts said, "Many mistakes have been made, but it's just a small thing that happens if batters don't play well." "We expect it to get better, but we haven't played baseball since the beginning of the second half." he said. It's a disappointment with the attack power.

The Dodgers maintained their lead in the NL West with 66 wins and 49 losses.





This article was translated by Naver AI translator.