Ohtani takes big leap, earns first win of season for Dodgers - ESPN

LOS ANGELES — Shohei Ohtani's 87th pitch on Wednesday, a slider, induced a harmless groundout that also triggered a milestone. With it, the Los Angeles Dodgers' two-way superstar completed five innings for the first time since coming back from a second repair of his ulnar collateral ligament, a sign that his prolonged pitching rehab had finally reached its conclusion.

Ohtani, though, had no time to appreciate the moment — it was his turn to hit.

Rather than make the rounds along the third-base dugout and take a rest on the bench, Ohtani hurriedly donned a batting helmet, strapped on some elbow and shin guards, grabbed his bat and readied himself to lead off the bottom of the fifth inning. By that point, he had already done most of the heavy lifting — by igniting a four-run rally, by holding the visiting Cincinnati Reds to one run and by setting the tone in his first Dodger win of the season.

«I'm excited for Shohei,» Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said after a 5-1, sweep-clinching victory. «You know, he was one hitter away from not getting a chance to get a win because of the pitch count, so I think it was good for him to get that win.»

For now, at least, the Dodgers are essentially treating five innings — and thus, somewhere in the neighborhood of 90 pitches — as Ohtani's limit this season. Ohtani called reaching that threshold «really key in terms of moving forward,» but the way he got there was just as important.

After back-to-back starts in which he allowed a combined nine runs in 8⅓ innings against the last-place Colorado Rockies and Los Angeles Angels, Ohtani relied heavily on his breaking pitches while limiting the Reds to one run — on a solo homer by Noelvi Marte — and striking out a season-high nine batters.