LOS ANGELES, CA — On Tuesday night, Dodger Stadium would see one of the best pitchers in baseball with Phillies’ Cristopher Sánchez, La Romana, Dominican Republic, 13-5, 2.57 ERA, 192 strikeouts, averaging 6.2 innings per game. As a six-foot-six-inch lefty, he is quite intimidating to any and all hitters.
The Dodgers’ starter, Shohei Ohtani, 1-1, 3.75 ERA, made his twelfth start, and as LA slowly plans to bring him back from ‘Tommy John’ surgery, we have begun to see him show why he is not only one of the best hitters in the game but also one of the best pitchers. The velocity of his fastball in the first inning was 98, 99, 100, 101, and 102 MPH. He was consistently at 99, and 100-MPH.
Shohei Ohtani’s velocity in the first inning of Tuesday night’s game clocked out to 98, 99, 100 and 101-MPH – Image Credit: Francisco Rodriguez/Latino Sports
The Dodgers wasted no time scoring against Sánchez when Alex Call parked a 408-foot solo home run into the left field Pavilion, followed by a line drive base hit by Andy Pages, Havana, Cuba, and a 415-foot two-run home run off the bat of fan favorite, Kiké Hernández, San Juan, Puerto Rico—giving LA an early 3-0 lead after two innings.
The bottom of the Dodger order continued to move runners around the bases when, in the fourth inning, Tommy Edman beat out an infield hit and was sent to third when Pages singled to right. Then it was ‘Kiké Time’ again as Hernández hit a sacrifice fly to plate Edman, collecting his third RBI of the night.
Cristopher Sánchez is having a LatinoMVP season across 2025 with a 2.57 ERA prior to Tuesday night’s outing at Dodger Stadium – Image Credit: Bill Menzel/Latino Sports
But the bigger story was Ohtani, who showed superior command and control of his arsenal of seven different pitches. He left the game with a line of five innings pitched, zero runs, zero hits, one walk, and five strikeouts. Ohtani threw 68 pitches, 42 for strikes, and left with a 4-0 lead. But he showed, to the delight of everyone, especially the Dodger organization, that he is back!
But not to worry Padres’ fans, the Dodger bullpen found a way to mess this outstanding performance by Shohei. And before you can say ‘Bullpen Implosion,’ the Phillies hit two home runs and scored six runs in the sixth inning to take the lead, 6-4. YIKES! The ferocity with which the Phillies scored those six runs were mind-blowing.
Ohtani would lead off the bottom of the eighth inning with a monster solo home run, his 50th of the year, that cleared the Phillies’ bullpen, 430 feet from home plate.
The Dodgers would tie it up with a double from 2024 NL LatinoMVP runner-up Teoscar Hernández, of Cotui, Dominican Republic, and a sacrifice fly RBI by Call.
But here came the call to the bullpen again for the Dodgers. This time, it was Blake Treinen who would hear the boos from the 44,063 Dodger fans as he gave up a double, a walk, and a three-run home run to put the game away for the Phillies, 9-6. In addition, the Dodgers blew a chance to go three games up on the Padres, who lost to the Mets Tuesday, 8-3.
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