LOS ANGELES — Two-way celebrity Shohei Ohtani labored two scoreless innings for the Los Angeles Dodgers towards the Houston Astros on Saturday in his fourth mound begin of the season, placing out the aspect so as within the second whereas pitching on his thirty first birthday.
Ohtani allowed one hit and threw 31 pitches, 21 for strikes. He fanned Christian Walker, Victor Caratini and Yanier Diaz — all swinging — to conclude his newest outing as an opener as he works his means again from elbow surgical procedure.
In his earlier begin every week earlier, Ohtani threw the quickest pitch of his profession at 101.7 mph. This time, he hit triple digits solely as soon as — a 100.9 mph fastball that Caratini fouled off.
Dodgers organist Dieter Ruehle performed one line of “Comfortable Birthday” as Ohtani walked to the dugout after the second inning. Earlier than the sport, the Los Angeles grounds crew wrote the message “HB Sho” within the filth.
Isaac Paredes led off towards Ohtani with a single to left. Ohtani then acquired Cam Smith to hit a comebacker that second baseman Tommy Edman changed into a double play. Jose Altuve adopted with a groundout as Ohtani retired the aspect on 10 pitches.
Ohtani has allowed one run in six innings this season for a 1.50 ERA.
The three-time MVP didn’t pitch final season, his first with the Dodgers, whereas recovering from Tommy John surgical procedure. He made 86 mound begins over 5 seasons with the Los Angeles Angels, going 38-19 with a 3.01 ERA.
Batting in his customary leadoff spot, Ohtani grounded out within the first inning and once more within the second.