{"id":22924,"date":"2025-06-28T22:26:09","date_gmt":"2025-06-28T22:26:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/22924\/"},"modified":"2025-06-28T22:26:09","modified_gmt":"2025-06-28T22:26:09","slug":"shohei-ohtani-delivers-two-scoreless-innings-in-first-road-start-of-the-season-for-dodgers-nbc-los-angeles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/22924\/","title":{"rendered":"Shohei Ohtani delivers two scoreless innings in first road start of the season for Dodgers \u2013 NBC Los Angeles"},"content":{"rendered":"

The fastball hissed through the humid Midwest air like a bullet tearing through paper. 102 miles per hour. Shohei Ohtani\u2019s <\/a>heater wasn\u2019t just back\u2014it was announcing itself like a thunderclap.<\/p>\n

In his third start of the season\u2014and first road start in a Los Angeles Dodgers<\/a> uniform\u2014the two-way marvel delivered another deliberate, efficient performance on the mound Saturday night against the Kansas City Royals. This time, it wasn\u2019t just a glimpse. It was a clear, extended look at what\u2019s coming.<\/p>\n

Two innings. One hit. One walk. One strikeout. Twenty-seven pitches.<\/p>\n

Short and surgical, once again.<\/p>\n

This wasn’t just another chapter in Ohtani’s comeback tour\u2014it was a leap forward. For the first time since undergoing a second Tommy John surgery and missing all of 2024 as a pitcher, Ohtani went more than one inning. And he did it with poise, pace, and a full arsenal of weapons that left the Royals guessing.<\/p>\n

In a season full of anticipation, this outing felt like the first page of a new book. And the Dodgers, cautious all year, may finally be ready to turn that page.<\/p>\n

From the first pitch of the game\u2014a 95 mph fastball up in the zone\u2014Ohtani attacked. No hesitation. No rust. Just pure intent. He faced the Royals’ top of the order with a calm command that belied the moment, mixing in sweepers, cutters, and that devastating splitter that disappears like it\u2019s falling off a cliff.<\/p>\n

On his final pitch of the first inning, he unleashed a 102 mph four-seamer that was quickly turned into an inning-ending double play. Inning over. Crisis averted. The dugout exhaled.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the bottom of the second, he settled in. Pop out, strike out, and line out. An easy 1-2-3 inning on just 14 pitches. His outing was over. His day was done. Another box was checked on his journey back to being a full-time starting pitcher.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For a player who\u2019s already hit 29 home runs this season<\/a>\u2014leading the National League and sending Statcast machines into overdrive every night\u2014his return to the mound has been a slow drip. A tease. One inning here. Eighteen pitches there. But with each outing, that picture sharpens. The unicorn gets closer to unleashing his full power.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The one who terrifies pitchers from the box and then comes out the next inning to terrify hitters from the rubber. The one who redefines what it means to be a baseball player in the modern age. The one who bends the game to his will.<\/p>\n

The Dodgers are still being careful. Ohtani\u2019s pitch count remains capped.<\/a> His appearances, planned. He\u2019s not being unleashed yet\u2014but the leash is getting longer. And with every outing, his confidence grows. So does the possibility.<\/p>\n

Imagine October in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

Ohtani starting on the mound in Game 1 of the NLDS or NLCS, and then homering to leadoff the bottom half of the inning. Or possibly coming out of the bullpen in the top of the ninth in a do-or-die Game 7. Changing the game from both sides of the ball like no one else can.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the dream.<\/p>\n

And now, it\u2019s starting to feel real.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The fastball hissed through the humid Midwest air like a bullet tearing through paper. 102 miles per hour.…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":22925,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5123],"tags":[1582,276,2961,224,2502,5337,4712],"class_list":{"0":"post-22924","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-california","10":"tag-la","11":"tag-los-angeles","12":"tag-los-angeles-dodgers","13":"tag-losangeles","14":"tag-shohei-ohtani"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22924","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22924"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22924\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22925"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22924"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22924"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22924"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}