Shohei Ohtani stifles Giants as Dodgers end 4-game skid

LOS ANGELES — Shohei Ohtani was all business at the start of what is actually a mid-week respite.

Used as a pitcher only for the fourth time this season, Ohtani showed pin-point focus with seven scoreless innings that led the Dodgers to a 4-0 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday night to end a four-game losing streak.

Not only does Ohtani’s lower-maintenance week include a day when was asked to concentrate on just one of his two disciplines, he will open Thursday’s series finale on the bench but will be available as a pinch hitter.

The schedule is Manager Dave Roberts’ way of getting his two-way star at least a bit of downtime after seeing some “telling” signs that he needed a break.

There were no signs of fatigue over Ohtani’s season-high 105 pitches, except, perhaps, a pair of singles during his last inning of work.

“The ideal situation is to be great on both sides of the ball but how I look at it is if I’m not contributing offensively, then I know I can contribute on the pitching side of things and vice versa,” Ohtani said through an interpreter.

The outing was the third of at least six innings when Ohtani did not allow a run and the fourth when he did not allow an earned run. He lowered his ERA to a near spotless 0.82 and remained firmly in the early National League Cy Young Award talk after hitting at least 54 home runs in each of the past two seasons.

“You see it,” Roberts said. “We’ve all seen that transformation. He wants to be the best pitcher in baseball, and right now, he’s doing it. And so you can tell he’s hyper-focused on the preparation part of it, and then obviously the days that he starts, the execution.”

How much of that extra preparation and focus is taking away from his hitting continues to be up for debate.

“I do want to contribute more offensively,” Ohtani said afterward. “I haven’t done so this year so I’m looking forward to doing that.”

When asked if he thinks Ohtani is understanding of the decision to keep him away from the offense for two days, or if he is just saying the right thing, Roberts paused.

“I think he appreciates it,” Roberts said. “(Whether he is OK with it) does matter to some extent, but I do think that when I see him and how his body is responding and dragging a little bit, I think that most times it’s best to just take it out of the player’s hands.

“I do think that we have a good enough relationship that he understands I’m doing this for him and the team. I do think that, even if he probably disagreed with it, I still think it’s the best process right now.”

With Ohtani’s bat stuck in the dugout rack for the night, it gave others the chance to show off their power. Santiago Espinal took advantage of a rare start at third base to hit a home run in the third inning, his first as a Dodger.

Batting in Ohtani’s leadoff spot, Mookie Betts followed Espinal with his first home run since returning from an oblique injury on Monday. Betts, who had been out of action for more than a month, now has three home runs this season.

“It’s making sure that I’m staying ready mentally, physically,” Espinal said. “… I’m just trying to take advantage and the opportunity that I can, trying to add to the team. I did that tonight, and I’m happy that we got the W.”

Espinal’s home run was his first since August of 2024 as a member of the Cincinnati Reds.

“I was happy for Espinal,” Roberts said. “He’s been such a great teammate. For him to have a moment to give us the lead was big.”

More infrequent contributors carried a previously stagnant offense forward. Miguel Rojas ended an 0-for-22 downturn with a fourth-inning single.

In his first game in three seasons as the Dodgers designated hitter, Teoscar Hernandez had a fourth-inning RBI single and Alex Call turned a start in left field into his own fourth-inning RBI on a sacrifice fly for a 4-0 lead.

A rare moment of trouble on the mound for Ohtani came in the seventh inning, when Willy Adames and Matt Chapman hit back-to-back one-out singles. After Ohtani received a visit from pitching coach Mark Prior, Drew Gilbert hit a line drive toward the gap in left-center.

Center fielder Andy Pages not only tracked down the ball to make the catch on the warning track, he threw to second base for the inning-ending double play after Adames had rounded third and was nowhere near making it back to the bag in time.

Adames admitted afterward that he thought there were two outs and not one.

Ohtani remained on the infield after the play and clapped the outside of his glove as he pointed it in the direction of Pages. He improved to 3-2 after allowing four hits with two walks and eight strikeouts.

Roberts was asked about the juxtaposition of Ohtani being a better pitcher than hitter this season after hitting a combined 109 home runs over the previous two seasons and only returning to the mound in the second half of 2025.

“It’s interesting because last year, there was a lot of conversations that he shouldn’t pitch and just be a hitter. And so now, it’s kind of flipped on its head,” Roberts said. “I can’t imagine what goes through his mind, but I do feel clarity on how we’re managing him.

“… I mean, it seems like whenever he’s on the mound, you expect a no-hitter, and then when he’s hitting, you expect two homers. And so that’s kind of his lot in life. It’s what he did to (create) that.”

With Ohtani out of the game, Tanner Scott gave up a lone single in the eighth inning and Kyle Hurt gave up a double in the ninth as the staff recorded its fourth shutout and second against the Giants.