Ohtani dominates – Shohei Ohtani launched a leadoff homer, then delivered five three-hit innings to power the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 4-0 victory over the San Diego Padres at Petco Park on Wednesday night.
SAN DIEGO — Shohei Ohtani didn’t wait for the game to settle. He swung at the very first moment he got, driving the first pitch he saw from Randy Vásquez a staggering 398 feet to center for a home run.
That start set the tone for everything that followed. On the mound, Ohtani tossed five sharp innings of three-hit ball as the Los Angeles Dodgers rolled to a 4-0 win over the San Diego Padres on Wednesday night.
It was another rare two-way statement from Ohtani. who added his eighth homer of the season and his 27th career leadoff homer when he took Vásquez’s high fastball deep. Even after the round tripper, the Dodgers didn’t slow down. Ohtani later connected for his 13th hit in 24 at-bats since the game before. continuing the kind of production that had come in waves even after he took a two-day break from hitting last week in an attempt to end a mini-slump.
For the Padres, Ohtani’s night on the mound was brutal in its steadiness. He struck out four while walking two and lowered his ERA to 0.73 over eight starts. When Ohtani finished his outing, four Dodgers relievers completed the five-hitter.
Los Angeles scored early and kept control. Max Muncy doubled in the second and came around on Teoscar Hernández’s long flyout. Hernández then added the kind of damage hitters dream about: a two-run homer for his sixth homer of the season, knocking in both runs in the ninth.
Ohtani’s pitching didn’t just keep the Padres quiet — it also forced them to work for every inch. He retired San Diego’s first nine hitters, though it took 52 pitches to do it. Fernando Tatis Jr. drew a leadoff walk in the fourth, and Gavin Sheets singled, but Ohtani escaped the jam.
In the fifth, the Padres finally threatened again by loading the bases with one out. Tatis grounded into a double play on the next pitch, and Ohtani responded with a vocal celebration at the end of his pitching night — the kind of reaction that said he felt every moment of the fight.
The Padres had a brief path to momentum after that, but it didn’t last. Ohtani drew another leadoff walk in the fifth, and he eventually scored on Kyle Tucker’s single to make it 3-0. San Diego finished the game scoreless, getting shut out for the final 15 innings of the series.
Vásquez absorbed the tough ledger for San Diego, yielding six hits and three runs. The loss capped a difficult stretch: the Padres had lost their last two games after a four-game winning streak, and they managed just five runs across the series at Petco Park.
Both teams have Thursday off. The Dodgers return Friday in Milwaukee with Justin Wrobleski (6-1, 2.49 ERA) scheduled to start, while Walker Buehler (3-2, 5.01 ERA) is expected to take the mound when the Padres host the Athletics at Petco Park.
Late in the game, there was another flash of tension on the Padres’ side. Center fielder Jackson Merrill left the game in the fifth. Merrill had crashed into the wall while attempting to steal Ohtani’s homer in the first inning, but kept playing until he exited.
The result leaves the Dodgers in a strong rhythm: they’ve won seven of eight. including taking two of three from their Southern California rivals in their first series of the season. For San Diego. the 4-0 shutout added weight to an already uneven run — and it came with Ohtani doing it the hard way. the fast way. and the impossible way all at once.
Shohei Ohtani Dodgers Padres Petco Park Randy Vásquez Teoscar Hernández Justin Wrobleski Walker Buehler MLB two-way performance