Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani picked up his first win of 2025 as a pitcher on Wednesday night against the Cincinnati Reds.
It was also the first time Ohtani pitched five innings since his [2023 UCL surgery](https://sports.yahoo.com/shohei-ohtani-and-his-agent-say-his-ucl-procedure-wasnt-tommy-john-surgery-050510657.html).
Ohtani threw 87 pitches, allowing just one run (a solo homer by Noelvi Marte) and striking out a season-high nine batters. Ohtani is beginning to incorporate a larger dose of his curveball and slider; 65 percent of his pitches on Wednesday night were off-speed.
Ohtani also did some damage with his bat against the Reds. He led off the fifth inning with a single, which sparked a four-run rally by the Dodgers.
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Los Angeles won the game 5-1, completing a sweep of the Reds that places the Dodgers two games up in the National League West entering Thursday.
Ohtani has now started 11 games for the Dodgers this year, accumulating an ERA of 4.18 and 44 strikeouts.
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Suddenly, Los Angeles’ rotation and overall roster are looking championship-ready once again. When you add an improving Ohtani to Blake Snell, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and others, plus a resurgent bullpen and returning stars like Max Muncy, the Dodgers might be peaking at the right time.
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