Fernando Valenzuela (1981) 0.20
Fernando Valenzuela (1984) 0.21
Shohei Ohtani (2026) 0.60
\**in live-ball era (since 1920), minimum 5 starts, per Baseball Reference*
Three errant throws produced the first Marlins run against Ohtani, in the second inning. He hit AugustĂn RamĂrez with a pitch, then had RamĂrez dead to rights on a stolen base attempt but threw the ball into center field, putting the Marlins catcher on third base with nobody out. After a strikeout, RamĂrez tagged on a flyout to Andy Pages, whose throw was up the third base line and hit RamĂrez as he scored.
That first run was unearned, but Ohtani allowed an *earned* run in the fifth, a frame in which he allowed two walks and two singles. It could have been worse, with the bases full of Marlins with two outs, but Ohtani struck out RamĂrez to extinguish that threat.
Any signs of fatigue were allayed when Ohtani worked around a single with three more strikeouts in the sixth, giving him nine on the night.
On a normal night, the Dodgers probably win this kind of a start over two-thirds of the time (they are 12-5, with a .706 winning percentage when a pitcher goes at least six innings and allows no more than two runs this season). But on Tuesday, the offense failed to score in six innings against Janson Junk, who allowed only three singles and a walk.
Los Angeles did not score until three singles with one out in the eighth inning, with Will Smith driving in Dalton Rushing to pull within one.
Andy Pages reached on an infield single with one out in the ninth, but was stranded by Tyler Phillips, who surrendered the game-winning hit the night before.
The Dodgers are trying to find avenues, whenever possible, to give Ohtani extra rest, which is why he didnât also serve as designated hitter against the Marlins. Picking their spots for such rest will depend on how Ohtani is feeling.
âI think his goal is to his goal is to make every [pitching] start. So with that, there has to be some compromise and some openness to read and react,â Roberts said. âI think so far weâre doing a nice job, and heâs open to that.â
Tuesday was the 12th of 13 consecutive game days for the Dodgers, and Ohtani was the only position player to start all of the previous 11 games.
âThe 13 in a row, I think itâs been a grind on everyone. And also taking into consideration everything that Shohei goes through on a daily basis, to know that heâll be back in the lineup tomorrow,â Roberts said. âI think this is an opportunity to hedge a little bit, play both sides, so have a guy whoâs swinging a good bat in Dalton to replace him for a night, to give Shohei the best opportunity to pitch well and not take on both duties, then just hit tomorrow and have an off day. Hopefully this abbreviation will give him a reset, after the off day.â
Maybe Ohtaniâs bat will help the Dodgers find some offense in the series finale.
**Home runs**: none
**WP â Janson Junk (2-2)**: 6 IP, 3 hits, 1 walk, 4 strikeouts
**LP â Shohei Ohtani (2-1)**: 6 IP, 4 hits, 2 runs, 3 walks, 9 strikeouts
**Sv â Tyler Phillips (2)**: 1 IP, 1 hit
