DENVER — Shohei Ohtani was scheduled to pitch five innings Wednesday in Colorado. He lasted just four, yet the Dodgers considered themselves fortunate he made it that far.
The team and its star two-way player, who was appearing in his 1,000th big league game, courted disaster with one out in the fourth inning when the Rockies’ Orlando Arcia lined a shot back to the mound that appeared to strike Ohtani above his right knee before caroming across the first-base foul line to drive in a run.
Ohtani, in obvious discomfort, hobbled back to the mound to finish the inning, but didn’t come back for the fifth inning of the Dodgers’ 8-3 loss. He did come to the plate as the designated hitter in the fifth, drawing a walk, then left the game altogether after that, with Alex Call taking over as the DH in the eighth.
If Ohtani’s health is the team’s primary concern at the moment, concerns over his last two performances on the mound probably aren’t far behind. Ohtani, making his 10th pitching start as a Dodger on Wednesday, gave up a season-high five runs and matched a career high with nine hits allowed against the weak-hitting Rockies, taking his first loss of the season. He has given up nine runs and 14 hits in his last 8 1/3 innings, nearly doubling his season ERA from 2.37 to 4.61
So while manager Dave Roberts admitted before the game that the Dodgers have had internal conversations about using Ohtani as a closer if they reach the postseason, those plans could soon be paused.
Pitching in 93-degree temperatures, Ohtani looked rocky from the start, falling behind 2-0 in the second on Brenton Doyle’s RBI double and a sacrifice fly from Arcia. Colorado made it 5-0 in the fourth, with the first five batters collecting hits, the last of those coming on Arcia’s RBI single off Ohtani’s leg.
Meanwhile Colorado’s Tanner Gordon (4-5), who started the night with a 7.98 ERA, was breezing through the Dodgers’ lineup, shutting them out on three hits before Teoscar Hernández belted an opposite-field homer, his 21st of the year, with one out in the sixth.
The Rockies, who collected 16 hits on the night, got that run back in the bottom of the inning on Hunter Goodman’s two-out single to left, which scored Arcia for the second time, then added two more in the eighth on a double from Goodman, who finished with three hits and three RBIs.
Miguel Rojas made the final score look a bit more respectable for the Dodgers with a two-run, two-out double in the ninth.
Even before taking the line drive off his body, Ohtani was scheduled to take Thursday off. With the Dodgers in the midst of a stretch that will see them play a season-high 19 games without a break, Roberts held shortstop Mookie Betts out of the lineup Wednesday and is expected to do the same with Ohtani, Hernández and catcher Will Smith in the finale of the four-game Colorado series Thursday.
Etc….
Utility player Kiké Hernández made a rehab appearance as the designated hitter for triple-A Oklahoma City on Wednesday. Hernández has been on the injured list since July 7 with left elbow inflammation, but he could return to the Dodgers early next week. … Relievers Kirby Yates and Tanner Scott both threw hitless innings in rehab appearances for Oklahoma City on Tuesday and could rejoin the team in San Diego this weekend. … Before Wednesday’s game, the Dodgers recalled right-hander Paul Gervase from triple A and optioned right-hander Alexis Diaz. Gervase, 25, acquired from Tampa Bay at the trade deadline, appeared in five games with the Rays this season, striking out six batters in 6 1/3 innings. He made his Dodgers debut against the Rockies, giving up a run and two hits in two innings.
