San Francisco Giants fans will get an opportunity to see Shohei Ohtani pitch at Oracle Park for the first time, albeit for the Los Angeles Dodgers, when the National League West rivals continue a three-game series Saturday afternoon.
Pitching took a back seat to some powerful hitting, including an Ohtani rocket into the San Francisco Bay, when the Giants ran out to a six-run lead and held on for an 8-7 win over the Dodgers in the series opener Friday night.
Serving as the designated hitter, Ohtani went 1-for-4 with his 32nd homer and a walk as the Dodgers lost their seventh straight game and the Giants won for the fifth time in their past six contests.
A two-way star in Japan and with the Los Angeles Angels, Ohtani was the subject of a massive recruiting effort by the Giants when he became a free agent after the 2023 season. He wound up signing with the Dodgers for a record-setting $700 million over 10 years, even though it was understood he would need to take 2024 off from pitching following elbow surgery.
The right-hander returned from a 22-month hiatus from pitching on June 16 with a one-inning start against the San Diego Padres. He has since thrown one inning again, then two innings twice, allowing just one run and four hits with six strikeouts.
Asked in a media gathering after his last start when he might get to three or more innings, Ohtani spouted the company line.
“In my rehab progression, it’s really important to just take one step at a time,” he said. “There are times when I may be able to go another inning, but it’s really important not to take unnecessary risks and make sure that I can progress consistently.”
Ohtani (0-0, 1.50 ERA) dominated the Giants in two career home starts with the Angels, allowing one run in six innings with nine strikeouts in an extra-inning loss in June 2021 and no earned runs over six innings with five strikeouts in a 4-1 win in August 2023. He’s 1-0 with an 0.75 ERA over those 12 innings against the Giants.
While the 31-year-old will make his first Oracle Park start, the Giants’ red-hot Willy Adames will seek his first career hit against Ohtani. They have gone head-to-head just twice, that showdown coming in a 2021 game between the Angels and Adames’ then-Tampa Bay Rays, with Ohtani recording a pair of strikeouts.
Adames, who is new to the Giants this season, contributed a triple, home run and three RBIs to Friday’s win in his first experience with one of baseball’s best rivalries.
“Man, that was electric,” he said during an on-field interview minutes after the final pitch. “That ninth inning (when the Dodgers got the potential tying run to second base), I was like, man, that feels like playoffs. Just the energy itself. I love playing those games. The fans showed up, and I love it.”
Tasked with trying to send the Dodgers to an eighth consecutive defeat will be Giants right-hander Landen Roupp (6-5, 3.39 ERA), who has been the club’s best pitcher over his past four starts, during which he’s gone 2-0 in four San Francisco wins. He’s allowed just three earned runs in 20 1/3 innings over that stretch.
The 26-year-old’s last defeat came June 14 in Los Angeles against the Dodgers, 11-5, when he was hit hard and gave up six runs in 1 2/3 innings. Ohtani led off that game with a home run and later added another off Giants reliever Tristan Beck.
Roupp has pitched three times in his career against the Dodgers, twice in relief, compiling an 0-1 record and 12.79 ERA. In the loss on June 14, he pitched just 1 2/3 innings and gave up six runs on four hits and five walks.
–Field Level Media
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