LOS ANGELES -- It didn't take a skilled lip reader to make out what Shohei Ohtani was saying to himself on the mound. When his frustration hit its peak, the colorful language he let loose came through clear as day through the field mics.
Even after the Dodgers had secured a 4-1 win over the Rockies on Wednesday night, Ohtani sure didn't seem like a player who had tossed six hitless innings to go with a leadoff home run. That speaks to the lofty standards to which the two-way superstar holds himself.
"The great ones, you look at six innings, no-hit ball. That could've been seven or eight," manager Dave Roberts said. "That's what makes guys like that special."
Ohtani's hitless outing was the beginning of a deep no-hit bid against the Rockies. Will Klein kept the bid alive in the seventh, and Tanner Scott recorded two outs in the eighth before giving up a base hit to Tyler Freeman. But while the no-hitter was lost, the Dodgers still secured a three-game sweep of the Rockies at Dodger Stadium.
The Dodgers will take that end result every time, just as Ohtani would have gladly traded his no-hit bid for a more satisfying start.
"I would rather … take the days where I get hit a little bit but still be efficient," Ohtani said through interpreter Will Ireton, "rather than walking and just not being able to pitch deeper into the game.”
If the Dodgers had any reservations about having Ohtani carry out his full two-way duties one night after being hit by a pitch on his right hand, he ensured they wouldn't linger long, launching a leadoff homer for the second straight pitching start. He is the only pitcher in Major League history to hit a leadoff home run, and he's done it two other times: in his two-way masterpiece in Game 4 of the 2025 NL Championship Series and last week in San Diego.
With Rockies starter Tomoyuki Sugano opposing Ohtani, it was the 21st matchup between Japanese-born starting pitchers in Major League history, including the postseason. The last such matchup was between Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Shota Imanaga on Opening Day 2025 in Tokyo.
Not only did Ohtani get the better of Sugano at the plate, he outdueled him on the mound. Ohtani issued a season-high four walks and hit a batter, which allowed the Rockies to push across a run in the fourth inning. But they couldn't find grass against Ohtani, who struck out seven and came away with an ERA of 0.82, the lowest mark among Major Leaguers who have pitched at least 30 innings.
"The takeaway, if any, the positive is that they didn’t really have any hard hits," Ohtani said. "And that’s the positive.”
Ohtani is the first pitcher to hit a home run and not allow a hit in the first six innings of a game since Jake Arrieta on Sept. 27, 2015.
Sugano made the mistake of catching a little too much of the plate with a 1-1 four-seamer to Ohtani, who drove it a Statcast-projected 424 feet to straightaway center at 111.3 mph off the bat for his ninth long ball of the season.
This was the second time that Ohtani has homered in consecutive pitching starts in his career, last doing so in June 2023. In the Modern Era (since 1900), only four players have homered in at least three straight pitching starts: Ken Brett (four in a row, 1973), Don Drysdale (1958), Bob Lemon (1949) and Wes Ferrell (1933).
Similar to last week's start in San Diego, Ohtani wasn't at his sharpest against Colorado. His four walks were his most in a start since July 4, 2023, and there were times when he was visibly frustrated with his command. But the Rockies weren't able to do anything more than take the free bases he gave them.
"It’s just the feel," Ohtani said. "When something’s off offensively, defensively, I could tell, and I just really couldn’t find it.”
On multiple occasions, Ohtani has spoken about not having the best feel, even as he's dominated on the mound. He has held opponents to one run or fewer in seven of his nine starts, and no more than two runs in an outing.
More than the quality of his stuff, it's the mentality Ohtani carries into each pitching start that allows him to thrive even on frustrating nights.
"Once he gets guys into scoring position, he really bears down and the command seems to come to life," Roberts said. "But this guy is just a crazy good competitor."