The Los Angeles Dodgers saw their five-game winning streak end with a 4-3 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday.
The defeat came despite a good outing from Shohei Ohtani, who started on the mound and worked through six innings, allowing just one unearned run while keeping his season ERA at 0.00.
Ohtani left the game with the Dodgers leading 3-1, but a late rally from Toronto in the seventh and eighth innings flipped the scoreboard.
However, a good performance — how many would see it from the outside — wasn't how Ohtani viewed it on the mound.
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“I just wasn’t comfortable throwing,” Ohtani said. “When you rely on just your senses, there can be misalignment.”
Ohtani revealed that he began feeling off even before the start, noting issues during pregame throwing sessions that carried into the outing.
“My performance wasn’t good. "However, I was able to effectively handle my assigned innings and pitch count," Ohtani said through an interpreter. “The condition of my arm isn’t bad. It just didn't feel right when I was throwing."
The right-hander labored early, throwing 60 pitches across the first three innings as Toronto repeatedly put runners in scoring position.
“It was at the end of a road trip and closer to a day game, so in that sense, I think everyone had some fatigue,” Ohtani said. “I don’t know if that was the reason, but I wasn’t comfortable throwing.”
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, meanwhile, noted that Ohtani never found full rhythm but managed to navigate through six innings.
“It was a grind,” Roberts said. “You can see it. He didn’t feel synced up with his delivery. You can see by the misses. He was fighting himself the entire outing. But obviously, the compete comes into play, the stuff comes into play, and he found a way to get through six innings giving up one run. Pretty impressive, to be quite honest, given how he felt.”
The outing ended a 24 2/3-inning scoreless streak, though the lone run charged to him was unearned. Los Angeles has a day off on Thursday before returning home to face the Texas Rangers on Friday at 10:10 p.m. ET.
