Alden GonzalezOct 29, 2025, 01:37 AM ETCloseESPN baseball reporter. Covered the L.A. Rams for ESPN from 2016 to 2018 and the L.A. Angels for MLB.com from 2012 to 2016.Follow on X
Eduardo Pérez: Shane Bieber neutralized Ohtani in Game 4 (1:02)Eduardo Pérez says Shane Bieber was key to the Blue Jays’ Game 4 win over the Dodgers because he neutralized Shohei Ohtani. (1:02)
LOS ANGELES — After Shohei Ohtani mowed through the middle of the Toronto Blue Jays’ lineup in the top of the sixth Tuesday, Dodgers pitching coach Mark Prior approached him in the dugout and asked how many innings he had left, conscious of the potential toll from the previous game. Ohtani answered affirmatively. “Three more innings,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts recalled him saying, perhaps half-jokingly.
One night after setting a postseason record by reaching base nine times in an 18-inning marathon, Ohtani performed as a two-way player in Game 4 of the World Series and was, well, mortal, going hitless in the batter’s box and getting tagged with the loss on the mound.
Ohtani, speaking through an interpreter after a 6-2 loss that evened this best-of-seven series at two games apiece, said he was “able to get on the mound in pretty good condition.” He received intravenous fluid to address leg cramps moments after the Dodgers came away from a 6-hour, 39-minute Game 3 with a walk-off victory, got to bed by roughly 2 a.m. PT and received what he called “quality sleep.”
When the seventh inning began, the Dodgers trailed by only a run and Ohtani had thrown 90 pitches. Three pitches later, after a single by Daulton Varsho and a 101.7-mph double by Ernie Clement, Roberts turned to his bullpen. The Blue Jays went on to score four runs with Anthony Banda and Blake Treinen on the mound.
“I wanted to go seven,” Ohtani said, “and it was regrettable that I wasn’t able to finish that inning.”
Ohtani’s first postseason as a starting pitcher is officially over now, ending with a 2-1 record, a 3.50 ERA and 25 strikeouts against five walks in 18 innings. If he pitches again, it would be out of the bullpen in Game 6 or a potential Game 7, something he told Japanese reporters he was willing to do.
“Although we did lose the game,” Ohtani said, “I thought I had a productive experience being able to experience this situation.”
Eduardo Pérez: Shane Bieber neutralized Ohtani in Game 4 (1:02)Eduardo Pérez says Shane Bieber was key to the Blue Jays’ Game 4 win over the Dodgers because he neutralized Shohei Ohtani. (1:02)
Eduardo Pérez says Shane Bieber was key to the Blue Jays’ Game 4 win over the Dodgers because he neutralized Shohei Ohtani. (1:02)
“Every time he steps up, I expect great things to happen,” Roberts said, “and maybe unfairly.”
CloseESPN baseball reporter. Covered the L.A. Rams for ESPN from 2016 to 2018 and the L.A. Angels for MLB.com from 2012 to 2016.Follow on X