Shohei Ohtani left his pitching start early for the Dodgers in the fourth inning of Wednesday’s game against the Cincinnati Reds, exiting alongside a trainer with an unspecified apparent injury.
While it was not immediately clear what forced two-way star to leave the game as a pitcher, he did remain in the game as the Dodgers’ designated hitter.
After giving up just one run in his first three innings, Ohtani lost his command following a leadoff single in the fourth.
He walked Tyler Stephenson on four pitches, two of which missed so badly they got past catcher Will Smith.
He started his next batter, Spencer Steer, with two more balls.
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That prompted manager Dave Roberts, head athletic trainer Thomas Albert and interpreter Will Ireton to come to the mound, where the four talked as the rest of the infield gathered around them.
After a few moments, Ohtani then headed to the dugout — but not the clubhouse — ending his outing after a season-high 51 pitches on a hot, humid night at Great American Ball Park.
Tuesday was only the seventh pitching start of the season for Ohtani, who was limited to DH duties for the first two and a half months of the season while completing his recovery from a second career Tommy John surgery he had near the end of the 2023 campaign.
It was also the two-way star’s first time pitching into the fourth inning, after throwing one inning in his first two outings, two innings in the next two, and two more in his last pair of appearances.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
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