Major League Baseball superstar Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers once again starred at both the plate and on the mound, leading his team to victory.
Ohtani took the mound as the starting pitcher in the Dodgers' road game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona, on the 4th (Korea time). He pitched six scoreless innings, recording six strikeouts while allowing just two hits and one walk.
The Dodgers, whose lineup pounded out 16 hits, won 7-0, giving Ohtani his sixth win of the season (against two losses). He lowered his earned run average (ERA) to a remarkable 0.74.
One inning short of qualifying for the ERA leaderboard, Ohtani is expected to top the entire MLB ranking after his next start.
Ohtani also led the offense as usual at the plate. Although he started as the pitcher, he batted leadoff and went 3-for-4 with two walks and one run scored.
Leading off the top of the first inning, Ohtani reached on an infield single toward the second baseman. He then drew consecutive walks in the third and fourth innings. In the sixth, he singled to left field, and in the seventh he struck out swinging.
In the ninth, batting with one out and runners on first and second, Ohtani hit a single to right field to load the bases. Reaching base five times for the first time this season, Ohtani raised his season batting average to .301.
Ohtani held the mound as the pitcher through the sixth inning, allowing only three Arizona batters to reach base, while he himself reached base five times.
