Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani hits leadoff homer then shuts down Padres in victory

Maddie Lee, Los Angeles Times on May 21, 2026

Published in Baseball

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SAN DIEGO — The crack of the bat reverberated throughout Petco Park. The crowd let out a collective, “Oh.” And Shohei Ohtani started his trot around the bases.

San Diego Padres center fielder Jackson Merrill made a valiant effort to bring back the home run. But after leaping and stretching his torso over the top of the wall, the ball fell just out of his reach.

Ohtani, hitting while pitching for the first time in almost four weeks, had homered on the first pitch of the game. Then, helping the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 4-0 win and series victory against the Padres on Wednesday, Ohtani threw five shutout innings and gave up just three hits.

He lowered his ERA to 0.73, which is the best mark of any pitcher who has started a game this season. It’s also the sixth-lowest ERA through the first eight starts of a season (excluding openers) that a pitcher has recorded in the live-ball era (since 1920), according to MLB.com. Fernando Valenzuela, with an 0.50 ERA through eight starts in 1981, is one of the pitchers ahead of him.

Manager Dave Roberts has held Ohtani out of the batting order for each of his last three starts on the mound, in what’s become a start-by-start decision. But Wednesday, he handled pitching and hitting duties, with immediate positive feedback.

“Obviously it’s a big series, and with the way he’s swinging the bat, I feel it gives us the best chance to win,” Roberts said before the game. “And last week, giving him a couple days off to reset, I thought that was beneficial. We’re on the heels of an off day [Thursday]. So I think all that in total, it just made sense to have him hit today.”

Roberts has also witnessed a “recharged” Ohtani on this trip, as evident on the basepaths and in the batter’s box.

Roberts and Ohtani differ in how much they credit his offensive turnaround to the two-day break from hitting that Roberts gave the two-way phenom last week, versus the progress he was already showing. But Ohtani entered Wednesday with four doubles and 10 hits total in five games against the Angels and Padres.

“I think he’s getting there,” Roberts said before the game. “I wouldn’t say he’s back; I think he’s getting there.”

Wednesday was another step in the right direction.

On the mound, Ohtani navigated through the Padres batting order the first time without allowing a baserunner. His pitch count, however, climbed to 52 through those three spotless innings.

Then facing the top of the order for the second time, Ohtani walked Fernando Tatís Jr. to give the Padres their first baserunner of the game. Gavin Sheets had the first Padres hit of the game, a bloop single into left field. But Ohtani worked out of the jam without giving up a run.

The bottom half of the Dodgers’ batting order, which carried the Dodgers offense early in the year, contributed the second run. Max Muncy hit a double down the right-field line, Will Smith moved him to third with a single, and Teorscar Hernández — who would also hit a solo homer in the ninth inning — delivered the sacrifice fly.

The top of the Dodgers’ batting order has started to click lately. (The first three hitters, Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman all had extra-base hits on Wednesday). And in the fifth, it tacked on insurance. Ohtani and Betts drew back-to-back walks. Tucker lined a one-out RBI double into right to give Ohtani a three-run cushion to work with in his last frame on the mound.

Then, Ohtani showed off a third part of his game: his defense.

In Ohtani’s most stressful inning pitching, he had runners on first and third with no outs in the fifth when Ramón Laureno hit a comebacker on the ground.

Ohtani executed text-book fundamentals, looking back the runner at third before throwing to second to avoid a second runner in scoring position. But the Padres still had a runner 90 feet away from scoring, with one out.

Ohtani then walked Padres No. 9 hitter Freddy Fermin to load the bases for Tatís, who had the chance to tie the score with an extra-base hit or put the Padres ahead with a grand slam.

Instead, Ohtani got him to roll over a sweeper to shortstop Mookie Betts, who started the inning-ending double play. Betts pumped his first. Ohtani shouted in celebration. The pair slapped hands on their way back to the dugout.

Ohtani’s job on the mound ended there, at 88 pitches.

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