LOS ANGELES -- Even while only carrying out one-way duties, Shohei Ohtani is something special.
Solely pitching and not hitting for the fourth time in seven starts, Ohtani continued his utter domination on the mound this season. The two-way superstar struck out eight Giants across seven scoreless innings on 105 pitches, scattering four hits and two walks in a 4-0 win on Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium.
By reaching 44 innings on the season, Ohtani qualified for the ERA leaderboard -- and sits atop it, with a near-pristine 0.82 mark. That is the second-lowest by a Dodgers pitcher through his first seven starts of a season since the earned run became an official statistic in the National League in 1912. Only Fernando Valenzuela had a lower mark, with an 0.29 ERA after seven starts in 1981.
If he keeps up this dominance, Ohtani could put himself in consideration to do something else that Valenzuela did in '81: win the Cy Young Award.
"Like I've said for a long time, he's a different person when he's pitching," manager Dave Roberts said. "I think he wants to win the Cy Young. I think that that helps the Dodgers, too, in 2026. When he's pitching, I just sort of let him go and … he's in a zone."
The Dodgers came into Wednesday's game in sore need of a win, having dropped four straight games by at least four runs. In a sense, Ohtani was the right man to have on that mound with his team in need of a stopper, but L.A. has gone only 2-4 through his first six starts. By snapping their season-high-tying four-game losing streak, the Dodgers also won their first Ohtani start since April 15.
That can partially be explained by the fact that the Dodgers entered Wednesday averaging 2.9 runs per game with Ohtani on the mound, the lowest for any L.A. starter.
"I don't know if it was a must-win, but it felt like we must get something going, we must show ourselves," Mookie Betts said on SportsNet LA. "Fortunately, Shohei shut them down on the other side and gave us a little time to build something."
Ohtani got early run support on back-to-back jacks from Santiago Espinal and Betts in the third inning. The Dodgers tacked on another pair of runs with some small ball in the fourth. That was more than enough for Ohtani, who leaned heaviest on his four-seamer and sweeper as he carved through the Giants' order three times, facing little stress until his final inning.
Ohtani got early run support and ran with it in his seventh start of the season, where he didn't face significant stress until his final inning.
With one out, Ohtani gave up back-to-back knocks to Willy Adames and Matt Chapman. Drew Gilbert hammered a ball to center at 100.4 mph off the bat, but Andy Pages got under it and caught it at the warning track. Adames had broken for third on contact and was rounding the bag when Pages came up with the ball, making an easy throw to second base to double him off and end the inning.
That play put his incredible run in perspective for Ohtani.
"The feeling’s pretty good. I feel really good with my pitches," Ohtani said through interpreter Will Ireton. "But today, the deep fly ball and the last out of the seventh inning -- that could have really swayed my ERA. So I think there’s some luck involved, as well."
Ohtani has tossed seven innings in back-to-back outings and pitched at least six innings in all seven starts, which marks his longest such streak in a single season in his MLB career.
When Ohtani is solely pitching and not hitting, Roberts has been more willing to extend his leash. Ohtani will also be out of the starting lineup in Thursday's finale as he works his way out of a season-opening slump. While he would rather be hitting to his standards, he finds solace in at least having another way to make an impact for his team.
"Ideal situation is to be great on both sides of the ball," Ohtani said. "But how I look at it is if I’m not contributing offensively, then I know I can contribute on the pitching side of things, and vice-versa."
Ohtani's otherworldly two-way talent comes with similarly lofty expectations. More often than not, he meets them. But when he's not delivering on one side of the ball, he finds a way to come through on the other.
"When he's pitching, everybody expects a Cy Young. When he's hitting, everybody expects an MVP and all that stuff," Espinal said. "That's what he showed tonight. It’s just Cy Young-caliber."