On May 27 against the Colorado Rockies, Shohei Ohtani hit a home run to lead off the game and then blanked them for six innings as the Dodgers won 4-1. It’s the kind of two-part achievement no modern MLB player had done across an entire career.
For the Dodgers, May 27 started like something straight out of a highlight reel—and then escalated into something rarer than most baseball feats ever become.
Against the Colorado Rockies, Shohei Ohtani stepped in as Los Angeles’ leadoff hitter and took a swing in the bottom of the first inning. He hit a home run to give the Dodgers a 1-0 lead.
Later in the same game, Ohtani moved to the mound. As the Dodgers’ starting pitcher, he completed six innings without allowing a hit. The Rockies didn’t record their first hit until the eighth inning. Los Angeles went on to win 4-1.
The rarity of what happened doesn’t end with the score. Stats Perform reports that no player had ever done both—leading off with a home run as a pitcher-bat and also throwing a hitless start through six innings—in an MLB career. let alone in a single game. Ohtani became the first pitcher to lead off a game since Game 4 of the National League Championship Series last season—and he was also the pitcher in that NLCS game.
By limiting the Rockies to one run in six innings, Ohtani’s ERA now sits at 0.82. He is one inning shy of the minimum needed to qualify for an ERA title, a milestone he could potentially reach in his next start.
The early-season numbers build on the same theme. As a pitcher, Ohtani has limited opposing hitters to a .147 batting average, two home runs, and seven runs (five earned) through the first two months of the season.
As a hitter, he has been just as steady. Ohtani is hitting .269 with nine home runs, 36 runs scored, and 30 RBIs.
The game also connects Ohtani to a short list of historical performances. The last pitcher to allow no hits through the first six innings of a game and hit a home run at any point in his start was the Cubs’ Jake Arrieta in 2015. For the Dodgers, the last time a pitcher did it was Hall of Famer Don Drysdale in 1959.
And there’s more. Ohtani joined Drysdale on a list of pitchers who have hit a home run in three consecutive starts. Ken Brett (1973), Bob Lemon (1949), and Wes Ferrell (1933) are the only other pitchers to have done so since 1900.
It’s a strange thing about modern sports: sometimes a player’s best moment is only half the story. In this one, Ohtani didn’t just find a way to contribute twice. He made two separate roles—pitcher and hitter—feel like they were sharing the same script. with the Rockies left to chase the result instead of rewriting it.
Shohei Ohtani Los Angeles Dodgers Colorado Rockies MLB May 27 home run hitless innings ERA 0.82 designated hitter starting pitcher
Dodgers are just cheating at this point lol.
So he hit the leadoff HR and then pitched like 6 no-hit innings? That’s actually insane. I don’t even watch baseball like that but I saw the headline and I’m like wow he’s basically two sports at once.
Wait, I thought Ohtani isn’t allowed to pitch anymore or whatever? Like I swear there was some whole thing last season. Also 0.82 ERA after 6 innings sounds fake, because didn’t the Rockies get a hit in the 8th so how is it that low? Either way, baseball stats are confusing as hell.
I remember seeing this stat about Arrieta and Drysdale like years ago, and now they’re bringing it back like it’s new 😂. If he’s “one inning shy” of an ERA title, doesn’t that mean he could just throw a single inning next game and steal it? I guess pitchers are more important than hitters now which feels backwards. Anyway Rockies gave up 4 runs, so it wasn’t a full shutout, but still… that double achievement thing is wild.