As Shohei Ohtani emerges from an early-season downturn, the four-time MVP will now square off against a team that absorbed one of the best days of his career.
The Los Angeles Dodgers are set to open a three-game home series Monday against the Miami Marlins, who are midway through a six-game road trip in California.
Ohtani ended a 12-game home-run drought with a solo shot in a 6-0 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Sunday. It was his longest run without a home run since joining the Dodgers before the 2024 season.
Heading into Sunday’s game, Ohtani was on an 8-for-44 (.182) slide with just one RBI.
“Yeah, well, I think it’s been getting a little better since around (Saturday),” Ohtani said through a translator on the SportsNet LA broadcast. “So, I’d like to keep being patient while making further improvements.”
In 19 career games against the Marlins, Ohtani has eight home runs with 21 RBIs and had what was arguably one of the most historically significant games in MLB history against Miami two seasons ago.
On Sept. 19, 2024, Ohtani went 6-for-6 against the Marlins with three home runs, two doubles, four runs scored and 10 RBIs. It was also the game when he reached 50 home runs to become the first 50 homer-50 stolen base player in major league history.
Right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto (2-2, 2.48 ERA) is set to take the mound for Los Angeles after he took the loss at San Francisco on Tuesday when he gave up three runs over seven innings. He won his lone start against the Marlins in 2024, allowing two runs over eight innings.
After consecutive losses at San Francisco, the Marlins will send right-hander Chris Paddack (0-4, 6.38) to the mound. Paddack gave up five runs over 4 2/3 innings in a loss to the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday.
Paddack’s outing came after he rebounded from a rough season-opening outing by giving up a combined four earned runs over his previous three starts.
“I thought Chris, for the most part, did a really nice job,” Marlins manager Clayton McCullough said. “He threw some really nice changeups. They had a lot of depth at the bottom of the zone. I thought Chris threw well.”
Paddack is 1-4 with a 5.91 ERA in nine career starts against the Dodgers. He did hold Los Angeles to one run over six innings of a no-decision last season in his final start for the Minnesota Twins before he was traded to the Detroit Tigers.
On Sunday at San Francisco, Miami right-hander Max Meyer did not allow an earned run over five innings on 77 pitches before the bullpen failed to protect a 3-1 lead.
Marlins left-hander Andrew Nardi gave up a tiebreaking three-run home run in the seventh inning to Casey Schmitt in a 6-3 loss. Graham Pauley hit a three-run home run in the second inning for the Marlins, his first of the season.
Miami is 1-2 to open its six-game road trip and just 3-9 on the road for the lowest number of victories away from home in the National League.
–Field Level Media
