LOS ANGELES — Shohei Ohtani hasn’t hit much yet this season, but Tuesday night was a reminder that the four-time MVP is also an excellent pitcher. The Dodgers needed his arm to beat the Cleveland Guardians 4-1 in the middle game of their interleague series at a damp Dodger Stadium that was much closer than the final score indicates.
On the eve of the eighth anniversary of his Major League Baseball pitching debut, Ohtani in his 101st career start allowed only one hit, a two-out double by Rhys Hoskins in the fourth inning that provided one of only two at-bats with runners in scoring position off the Dodgers right-hander. Ohtani worked around three walks and a hit batter to finish six scoreless innings, with six strikeouts.
Last season saw a gradual build-up on the mound for Ohtani, who was returning from September 2023 Tommy John surgery, the second of his career. He didn’t top three innings until August, then the reins were slowly loosened into September and October. Manager Dave Roberts noticed Ohtani’s improvements this spring compared to last season.
“The feel for the breaking ball is much better. I think last year he was trying to introduce a slider with maybe a little bit more depth, and just trying to get a handle on that,” Roberts said earlier Tuesday. “But now, the ability to strike it, shorten it, to make it get a little bit bigger, all the while still having 97-98 in the tank when he needs it.”
Ohtani finished off two of his strikeouts with the curveball, two with the splitter, and two with the sweeper on Tuesday.
He also completed six innings for the fifth consecutive time on regular rest, dating back to last September. The only caveat in between was his 2 1/3 innings in Game 7 of the World Series, which was on three days rest.
Ohtani wasn’t all pitching on Tuesday. He walked twice while still pitching and later added a single. He has just three singles in 14 at-bats so far this season (.214), but also has six walks and was hit by a pitch, for a tidy .476 on-base percentage.
Ohtani wants to be a full-time two-way player again, and a start like Tuesday is one of several reasons the Dodgers are willing to indulge the effort.
“I think he’s already proven that he’s the best player to ever play the game, the best baseball player in totality,” Roberts said. “But I think he sees himself as a baseball player yes, but when he’s pitching he sees himself solely as a pitcher, and he wants to be the best pitcher.”
Early offense has been a problem for the Dodgers in the infancy of the schedule, such that when Andy Pages singled home Will Smith with two outs in the fourth inning it marked the first time Los Angeles has scored first in a game this season.
It was also the only Dodgers run scored in the fourth inning so far this season, and through five games they’ve been held scoreless in all the first and second innings in 2026. Despite only the one run, they did make Tanner Bibee work to the tune of 74 pitches such that the Cleveland starter was done after four innings, possibly as a precaution after he left his opening day start with shoulder inflammation five days prior.
Max Muncy’s solo home run in the sixth inning provided insurance. His first of the season was the 210th home run with the Dodgers for Muncy, one shy of Steve Garvey of sixth in franchise history. Muncy had the middle of four singles in the eighth inning as the Dodgers added even more insurance to pull away. Pages drove in the final run in the eighth, giving him bookend RBI on the night.
The Dodgers this season have scored 11 total runs through the first six innings of games (30 total innings), and 11 runs in the final three innings (11 total innings).
Tuesday particulars
Home run: Max Muncy (1)
WP — Shohei Ohtani (1-0): 6 IP, 1 hit, 3 walks, 6 strikeouts
LP — Tanner Bibee (0-1): 4 IP, 4 hits, 1 run, 2 walks, 4 strikeouts
Up next
One more game on the homestand for the Dodgers, with Yoshinobu Yamamoto on the mound Wednesday night (5:20 p.m.; SportsNet LA, MLB Network) against Gavin Williams and the Guardians.
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