Despite knee injury, Shohei Ohtani hits leadoff home run in Dodgers loss
The final result paled in comparison to the night’s first swing.Shohei Ohtani’s ailing knee, it turns out, is still feeling plenty alright.Ohtani didn’t make his scheduled pitching start on Friday in the Dodgers’ 9-3 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks, getting scratched from the mound before the game with what the team described as “continued irritation in his left knee.”Nevertheless, that didn’t stop the two-way star from serving as the club’s designated hitter –– or, three pitches into his first at-bat, taking All-Star left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez deep the other way for a resounding, and reassuring, leadoff home run.Ohtani’s knee problem, of course, is no small thing.After plaguing him for a month, he is set to have it drained on Sunday and will likely get a pain-relieving injection after that.The treatment plan will keep him from attending the All-Star Game.
It also forced the Dodgers into a bullpen game on Friday that came with disappointing results.Still, manager Dave Roberts insisted Ohtani’s status was no big concern either.If this were October, Roberts said, Ohtani would’ve been pitching.And even for the middle of July, he felt good enough to keep taking at-bats.The leadoff homer only underscored such optimism, with Ohtani somehow getting to a fastball off the inside corner and launching it to the opposite field for a 381-foot drive to left.It was Ohtani’s 21st home run of the season, his third in the last four games, and his 10th since his knee first began giving him problems back on June 10.Even in a losing effort, it was a sigh of supreme relief.The Dodgers did miss Ohtani’s arm on Friday, dropping the opening game of this first-half-finale series thanks to choppy performances from most of their relief staff.It started with opener Kyle Hurt, who gave up two runs in the first on three singles and a walk.The Dbacks mounted three more two-run rallies in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings, as well, in which Will Klein, Brock St...