CINCINNATI — It was the cramp heard ’round the world.
Pitching into the fourth inning for the first time since returning from his second Tommy John surgery, Shohei Ohtani came out of the game after throwing six consecutive balls including two wild pitches. His loss of command brought Dodgers manager Dave Roberts out to the mound with a trainer and ended Ohtani’s seventh start after 51 pitches on a hot and humid night at Great American Ball Park.
Breath was held from Cincinnati to Los Angeles to Japan until Ohtani emerged from the dugout the following inning, stepping on deck to continue in the game as the Dodgers’ DH. The preliminary report was Ohtani’s pitching night had ended due to cramps.
Count that as a big win for the Dodgers. It was the only win they got Tuesday night. A pair of near misses in the outfield fueled a three-run eighth inning as the Cincinnati Reds avoided a sweep by beating the Dodgers, 5-2.
Ohtani didn’t seem sharp from the beginning in his seventh pitching start of the season. He gave up a leadoff double to Gavin Lux and a run when Elly De La Cruz singled him home. He gave up two more hits in the second inning before retiring the side in order in the third inning.
Noelvi Marte started the fourth inning by hitting a ground ball down the third-base line that went off Alex Freeland’s glove for a hit. Ohtani was done throwing strikes. His next six pitches missed the mark, two going for wild pitches to advance the runner, and Roberts came out. Ohtani left the mound, trainer in tow.
Anthony Banda replaced Ohtani and gave up a sacrifice fly that tied the score at 2-2, the Dodgers’ runs coming on a home run by Freddie Freeman in the top of the fourth.
The score stayed tied into the eighth inning, even though the Dodgers had an opportunity to break the tie in the top of the inning when they loaded the bases with one out. But Andy Pages popped out and Michael Conforto flew out.
Emmet Sheehan held the Reds hitless through the fifth, sixth and seventh innings but walked two in the eighth to put two runners on with two outs. Spencer Steer lofted a fly ball down the left field line near the high wall in foul territory. Andy Pages jumped up and got his glove on it but couldn’t make the catch.
Three pitches later – 11 pitches into the at-bat – Sheehan left a fastball over the heart of the plate and Steer sent it over the wall in straightaway center field, but James Outman brought it back. Outman leaped, reached over the wall and – like Pages – got his glove on the drive but couldn’t hold it. It caromed off his glove and back onto the warning track. Two runs scored on the triple to break the tie. Blake Treinen replaced Sheehan and gave up an RBI single to Will Benson.
The game ended with Ohtani lining out to center field in the ninth. He was 1 for 13 in the three-game series.
More to come on this story.