It was a welcome sight for the Dodgers: Shohei Ohtani donning a helmet and elbow guard, hovering by the dugout steps with a bat in hand.
If Alex Freeland or Max Muncy had reached base in the eighth inning, he would have pinch-hit for Alex Call, manager Dave Roberts confirmed after the Dodgers’ 7-5 comeback win over the Washington Nationals on Sunday.
Instead, after two consecutive outs, Ohtani removed his gear and headed for the tunnel.
The Dodgers (86-57) wouldn’t need Ohtani to sweep the Nationals (67-78). Later in the inning, Mookie Betts hit a go-ahead, three-run home run into the left-field pavilion to help secure the Dodgers’ fourth consecutive win.
“I think it gave us some confidence, but we’ve still got a lot of baseball left,” Betts said. “We have to continue to just put good games together, figure out how to get some more big hits and keep pitching. Really just play solid baseball throughout September and not worry about any standings or anything of that nature.”
A major piece of that puzzle will be getting Ohtani back to health, back in the lineup, and ideally back to hitting like himself.
Roberts said he expects Ohtani to return to the lineup against the Cincinnati Reds on Monday. The Dodgers star has missed four games because of discomfort in his right biceps that has flared several times this season.
“[Saturday] was a good day,” Roberts said. “Came out of it feeling well. So if nothing else changes, or continues to trend, I see him in there [Monday].”
Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani watches from the dugout during a game against the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday.
(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)
Ohtani, who declined multiple requests for comment and has not spoken to reporters since Aug. 17, hit in the batting cage Saturday. Roberts received positive reports from his hitting coaches, training staff and Ohtani about the work and his recovery. Both his right biceps problem, which flared Wednesday, and his left knee injury, have “calmed down” with the time off, Roberts said.
“Just a handful of days ago, where he was at, talking to him the day after, it just felt that a few days could potentially be of benefit,” Roberts said. “Fortunately that’s how it’s played out.”
The Dodgers have not taken Ohtani’s return to pitching off the table, but his return to the mound this season seems unlikely.
“Not officially,” Roberts said, “but obviously, if you’re looking at the calendar, how much he’s thrown in the last week, I think we can all do the math.”
The calendar is also working against catcher Dalton Rushing’s hopes of playing.
Rushing returned to the injured list (sprained right elbow) Sunday, after catch play went poorly Saturday. In a corresponding move, the Dodgers recalled catcher Eliezer Alfonzo.
An MRI scan showed “more of the same,” according to Roberts. The Dodgers activated Rushing last week after he spent nearly a month on the IL.
Rushing had been serving as a left-handed bat off the bench and a designated hitter option with Ohtani out, while also building up on the throwing side.
The plan is for Rushing to shut down swinging for a few days, Roberts said, and then restart a hitting progression that, this time, will include a rehab assignment.
The mixed bag of injury news paired with the good and bad performances the Dodgers gave.
Justin Wrobleski made his first start in three weeks after a short IL stint and a move to the bullpen.
He recorded six strikeouts in the first three innings. But he spiraled in the fourth, giving up five consecutive hits — a solo homer, three singles and a two-run double — without recording an out. He exited with the Dodgers trailing 4-1.
Mookie Betts is showered in sunflower seeds after hitting a three-run, go-ahead home run against the Nationals at Dodger Stadium on Sunday.
(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)
Brock Stewart got out of Wrobleski’s jam without further damage. Then the Dodgers tied the score in the fifth, as Max Muncy (three for four) initiated a rally. Teoscar Hernández, Will Smith and Tommy Edman each drove in a run.
Bobby Miller made his first major-league appearance since May 2025 in the sixth. He gave up a leadoff triple off the center-field wall, a walk and an intentional walk to load the bases. With the rain coming down again, Miller lost control of a curveball and hit Dylan Crews to bring in a run.
“To get out of there with one run, with how my command was in that inning, pretty lucky for that,” Miller said. “After that, I seemed to get my feet under me. Got a little more comfortable, got the nerves out of the way — I think that was probably mostly it, not really feeling my legs much in that first inning. It’s been a super long time.”
He pitched two more innings and didn’t allow another baserunner, helped by right fielder Kyle Tucker, who, in addition to making a sliding catch three innings earlier, robbed Harry Ford of a home run with a spectacular leaping grab in the eighth.
“Bobby Miller was a star tonight,” Roberts said.
Betts was the offensive star.
During his at-bat in the eighth, he dodged a first-pitch changeup up and in off the plate, and Roberts lamented that he didn’t let the pitch hit him. Betts clobbered the next one.
“Freddie [Freeman] was giving me a hard time,” Roberts said. “He said, ‘That’s why he avoids the pitch.’”
