Straight Talk: Sharp Ohtani finishes off 6 scoreless with swinging strikeout

Apr 22, 2026; San Francisco, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers two-way player Shohei Ohtani (17) reacts after striking out the San Francisco Giants during the sixth inning at Oracle Park.

(Stan Szeto-Imagn Images)

"Straight Talk" is a regular feature in which The Sporting Tribune's John E. Gibson offers a full translation of media availability with Dodgers Japanese stars Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki. He will also help translate when Lakers star Rui Hachimura and LA Galaxy captain Maya Yoshida are asked questions in Japanese.

The job of interpreters in the heat of the moment is difficult without the ability to write down questions and answers and re-hear responses for proper context. That's where John comes in to help. John currently works as a Japanese-English interpreter and covered pro baseball in Japan for about 20 years. His experience as a sports reporter includes stints at The Orange County Register, The Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, The Redlands Daily Facts, The Yomiuri Shimbun’s English newspaper in Tokyo and The Epoch Times.

LOS ANGELES -- Two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani fires six scoreless innings, allowing five hits and punching out seven with a walk, but the Los Angeles Dodgers fail to muster any offense – including Ohtani going 0-for-4 at the plate and seeing his on-base steak snapped at 53 games – in a 3-0 loss to the host San Francisco Giants on Wednesday. Ohtani uses 91 pitches to lower his ERA to 0.38.

Q: Shohei, when you look at just this outing, it’s clear that you had all of your stuff working. Can you describe just navigating their lineup and being so efficient tonight?

Overall, I think my stuff was good tonight. I was on a good pace, so if I could have gone seven innings, I would think it was my best effort.