‘It’s a beautiful stadium’ Ohtani talks pitching at PNC Park

PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – As Major League Baseball's premier two-way player, Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani has gotten to play on both sides of the ball at numerous ballparks throughout the league. On Wednesday night, he crossed another venue off his list when he opened the contest on the mound for the Dodgers against the Pirates at PNC Park.

In a game that began as a slow-paced pitcher’s duel between Ohtani and Pirates’ starter Jared Jones, Ohtani held the Bucs to a single run over the first six innings. During that span, he also came within inches of opening the scoring for Los Angeles when he hit a fly ball into deep left field with two away in the third inning. But Bryan Reynolds somehow robbed him of the homer.

“It felt good off the bat. Looking back, I thought it was going to be a homer, but (Reynolds) made a fantastic catch, and I’ve gotta tip my cap on that one,” Ohtani said through his interpreter postgame.

Given a 6-1 cushion going into the seventh inning thanks to a Ryan Ward grand slam, Ohtani ran into his first serious jam when he allowed a walk and a base hit to open the top of the frame. Following back-to-back strikeouts, the Pirates cut the reigning National League MVP’s outing short with a Brandon Lowe double that scored the two runners on base to make it 6-3.

“The last couple of at bats I was hoping I got some calls my way, but it just didn’t turn out that way, so that’s the part I wish I would’ve been able to change a little bit,” Ohtani said.

“Going into that inning, the pitch count was relatively low. After the two outs, I felt pretty good, but it was just the missed execution on that 3-0 pitch,” Ohtani added.

Though his outing on the mound was over, Ohtani still made an impact at the plate a couple innings later, as he often does.

With one out in the top of the ninth, Ohtani roped a no-doubter into center field off Gregory Soto to bring the Dodgers within one. But even with a pair of overdue RBI from one of its star players, LA came up just short as the Pirates held on for the 9-8 victory.

Reflecting on the contest, Ohtani mentioned that being on the mound at PNC Park for the first time made the experience stand out compared to past games in Pittsburgh.

“It’s a beautiful stadium. I’ve always liked playing on this field, so just being on the mound felt really good. I really enjoyed it,” Ohtani said.

Per Dodgers Manager Dave Roberts, Ohtani will be back in the DH spot for Thursday’s rubber match.