The Shohei Ohtani show flopped on Wednesday night at Coors Field.
The reborn Rockies hammered the Dodgers’ two-way superstar for five runs on nine hits over four innings en route to an 8-2 victory.
Hammered is the operative word. In Colorado’s three-run fourth inning, Orlando Arcia lined a hot shot off Ohtani’s right leg for a base hit. Ohtani limped in pain, but he stayed in the game through the seventh inning as a designated hitter.
The Rockies, winners of seven of their last nine games, outhit Los Angeles 16-6.
Wednesday marked Ohtani’s first regular-season start at Coors Field. He started for the American League in the 2021 All-Star Game, retiring all three batters he faced while going 0 for 2 at the plate in the AL’s 5-2 victory over the National League. Ohtani was pitching for the Angels at the time.
Meanwhile, Rockies right-hander Tanner Gordon muffled the Dodgers’ bats for six innings Wednesday night. The only run he allowed was a solo homer to Teoscar Hernández in the sixth. Gordon gave up just four hits, walked one, and struck out three.
Colorado hit Ohtani hard in the second and fourth innings.
In the two-run second, Jordan Beck led off with a bloop single, Mickey Moniak ripped a single to right-center, and Brenton Doyle’s double down the left-field drove in a run. Arcia’s sacrifice fly to foul territory in deep right field scored another run.
Colorado ripped Ohtani for five consecutive hits in the fifth. Rookie Warming Bernabel — who’s hitting .311 since becoming the starting first baseman — doubled home a run, Arcia’s liner off Ohtani scored Mickey Moniak from third, and Tyler Freeman’s single scored Arcia to put the Rockies ahead 5-0.
The Rockies had lost 11 of their last 12 games to the Dodgers entering the night, but they piled it on late in LoDo. Hunter Goodman contributed an RBI single in the sixth and mashed a two-run double in the eighth.
The Rockies will attempt to clinch the four-game series on Thursday afternoon at Coors.