The Los Angeles Dodgers can’t seem to win with Shohei Ohtani on the mound.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts opened up about their offensive struggles after they lost Ohtani’s third straight start, 2-1 against the Houston Astros on Tuesday night.
Ohtani dropped his second straight decision, and LA fell to 2-5 in starts in 2026. Ohtani is 2-2 with a 0.97 ERA in seven starts after allowing just two earned runs and four hits while striking out eight in seven innings.
The Dodgers Lost Again Despite Shohei Ohtani’s Great Start
LA scored eight runs in Ohtani’s most recent win, an 8-2 win over the New York Mets on April 15. But it has scored just two runs since, despite Ohtani surrendering just three earned runs and 14 hits with 24 strikeouts in 19 innings pitched.
Ohtani threw just 89 pitches and retired seven of his final eight batters in the outing. He did not allow a hit over his final two innings, only hitting Houston infielder Isaac Paredes with a pitch with one out in the sixth inning.
“Good outing. Really good outing,” Roberts said. “I thought [his] fastball was really good. I thought he was using the curveball, which wasn’t great tonight, but the sweeper was good when it needed to be.”
Ohtani gave up a pair of home runs to Christian Walker and No. 9 hitter Braden Shewmake, the latter of which came in the third inning and would be a home run in just four of the 30 MLB parks according to MLB Statcast.
“He gave up the homer to Walker, but that’s 98 [or] 99 [mph], up and in. Gotta give credit to him,” Roberts said. “The homer to [Shewmake, was] just a ball down that gets over the Crawford boxes.”
Still, that was enough for Ohtani to lose for his second straight outing in which he did not hit. Houston starter Peter Lambert allowed just three hits, despite walking four, and did not allow a run over his seven innings.
“Lambert threw a heck of a ballgame,” Roberts said. “That’s baseball. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get [Ohtani] a win, but he did a nice job of preserving the bullpen.”
The Dodgers Have Been Inconsistent Offensively
The Dodgers may miss Mookie Betts, since their offense has not yet gotten uncorked this season.
LA is fourth in the majors in runs scored (194), and third in the National League behind the Atlanta Braves and Chicago Cubs.
But the Dodgers have scored 100 of those runs in 11 “blowout games,” which is defined as games decided by five runs or more. That means LA has just 94 runs scored in the remaining 25 games this year (3.76 per game).
Part of the Dodgers’ offensive woes, of course, have come from the fact Ohtani hasn’t hit in his past two starts. Ohtani is tied for second on the team in extra-base hits (12) despite sitting just fifth on the team in OPS+ (131).
“For me, it’s the part of taking care of him,” Roberts said of Ohtani not hitting on games he’s pitched. “That’s No. 1, his health. I think we’re doing as good of a job as we are doing with that.”
But the offensive struggles aren’t just confined to Ohtani’s outings. LA is 2-5 in its past seven games, and just 7-10 in its past 17 after its 15-4 start, with series losses to the Miami Marlins, Colorado Rockies, San Francisco Giants and St. Louis Cardinals.
The Dodgers have dropped five one-run games in that span and are now just 5-6 in games decided by a run this season.
Roberts isn’t managing to win games in April and May but instead is focused on getting LA to the playoffs healthy. But LA will need to come through when it matters to win a third straight World Series.
Dave Roberts Reacts to Dodgers Loss After Another Strong Shohei Ohtani Start