Ohtani returns to lineup on start day, hits leadoff home run - ESPN

SAN DIEGO — Kyle Hurt was in the visitors' bullpen at Petco Park, ready for the start of Wednesday's series finale, when he turned to his teammate, fellow Los Angeles Dodgers reliever Paul Gervase, and made a prediction about Shohei Ohtani:

«He's going to do some superstar stuff today.»

The Dodgers were playing a rubber match against their bitter rivals, the San Diego Padres, and Ohtani was in the lineup on his start day, something that hadn't occurred in nearly a month. Hurt figured Ohtani would dominate in a way only he can. And then, in some ways, Ohtani did — hitting a leadoff home run, then pitching five scoreless innings in the Dodgers' 4-0 victory, which pushed their lead over the Padres in the National League West to 1½ games.

Said Hurt: «He's a superstar for a reason.»

Before Ohtani, only a handful of players had ever batted leadoff while also serving as the starting pitcher. None had ever homered to start a game. Ohtani has now done so twice, first in Game 4 of the 2025 National League Championship Series, and then again in his first time doing both simultaneously since April 22.

He then navigated through a start that began with «a lot of uncertainty.»

«The results were good, as you saw,» Ohtani said through an interpreter, «but the process wasn't that great.»

Ohtani retired the first nine hitters in order, but he needed 52 pitches to do so. By the fourth, his high-90s fastball was often coming in a couple of ticks slower. The bottom of the Padres' lineup loaded the bases with one out in that inning, but Ohtani's first-pitch sweeper to a struggling Fernando Tatis Jr. resulted in an inning-ending double play and triggered a burst of emotion from the Dodgers' two-way star.

It was his 88th pitch and also his last.