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Dodgers complete sweep of Mets behind Shohei Ohtani’s 6 strong innings

April 16, 2026

LOS ANGELES — A cold front moved through Dodger Stadium this week. But don’t worry – it’s headed east now.

Shohei Ohtani took his turn keeping the frost on the New York Mets on Wednesday night, holding them to two hits over six innings as the Dodgers completed a three-game sweep with a 7-2 victory.

The loss was the Mets’ eighth in a row. They have managed just 12 runs during the eight losses.

In the three-game sweep, the Dodgers limited the Juan Soto-less Mets to a .132 batting average (12 for 91) with 27 strikeouts and three walks. The starting pitchers in the series – Justin Wrobleski, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Ohtani – allowed just two runs on eight hits while retiring the side in order 15 times in 22 innings.

Ohtani had nothing to do but pitch on Wednesday – so he flexed those muscles, striking out 10 in his six innings and getting 22 swings-and-misses in all (13 on a four-seam fastball that seemed to have particular life on this night).

After being hit in the back of his right shoulder by a pitch during Monday’s game, Ohtani was limited to pitching only in his start on Wednesday, the first time since May 2021 that he had been on the field as a pitcher but not in the lineup as a hitter.

He showed no ill effects on the mound from the bruising he took Monday. Ohtani retired the first seven Mets in order and 12 of the first 13 – six on strikeouts.

He lost command in the fifth inning and walked two. In between, though, the Mets showed their unfamiliarity with running the bases.

Francisco Alvarez was on first base when Carson Benge sliced a sinking line drive to left field. Teoscar Hernandez charged in and made a sliding attempt at a catch. He didn’t quite make it, scooping the ball up as he slid. Alvarez, however, had headed back to first base and was forced out at second – a rare 7-4 force out on your scorecard.

But Ohtani walked his second batter in the inning and gave up a ground-rule double to MJ Melendez. Freshly called up from the minors by the Mets, Melendez had the only two hits off Ohtani on Wednesday. That one drove in the first earned run Ohtani has allowed this season, ending his career-high streak of 32⅔ scoreless innings (the longest by a Dodgers pitcher since Max Scherzer in 2021).

Backed into a corner with runners on second and third, Ohtani dialed up his fastball, hitting 100 mph four times while striking out Tommy Pham on three pitches and getting Francisco Lindor on a line drive to left field.

As an encore, Ohtani struck out the side in the sixth inning with an impressive assortment of pitches. He got Luis Robert Jr. on a 97-mph four-seam fastball, Brett Baty on a 71.5 mph curveball and Bo Bichette on an 88-mph splitter.

Ohtani’s night was done with that. In his first three starts this season, he has allowed two runs (only one earned) on seven hits and six walks while striking out 18 in 18 innings.

While the Mets were ice cold this series, the Dodgers were no better than lukewarm until late in Wednesday’s win.

They took the lead in the second inning against Mets starter Clay Holmes when Dalton Rushing (getting the DH start with Ohtani limited to one-way duty) doubled inside the first-base bag and Hyeseong Kim followed with his first home run of the season.

Teoscar Hernandez gave the bullpen a little margin for error when he led off the sixth with a solo home run off Mets reliever Tobias Myers. Blake Treinen and Tanner Scott passed the 3-1 lead along with scoreless innings in the seventh and eighth, but the Dodgers broke it open in the eighth inning with Rushing hitting a grand slam and Kyle Tucker a solo home run.

In his past three games – spread out over 11 days – Rushing has gone 7 for 12 with two doubles, three home runs, six runs scored and six driven in.

The five-run eighth inning took the save situation out of play. Before the game, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Edwin Diaz would be available but Kyle Hurt handled the ninth in a non-save situation.

More to come on this story.

Orange County Register

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Dodgers complete sweep of Mets behind Shohei Ohtani’s 6 strong innings

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