Dodgers 8, Mets 2: Pitcher-only Shohei Ohtani strikes out 10 in dominant outing as bats blow things open late for the sweep

Chad Moriyama 04/15/2026 Game Recaps Leave A Comment

The Dodgers were going for yet another sweep, and combined with the seven-game losing streak of the Mets, it seemed like a prime opportunity for a letdown of some sort. Fortunately, Shohei Ohtani was on the mound and he looked as good as ever despite his earned run streak ending, striking out 10. Things were slow early, but homers from Hyeseong Kim and Teoscar Hernandez provided enough to secure a lead throughout before Dalton Rushing and Kyle Tucker blew things open late for an 8-2 victory and series sweep on Jackie Robinson Day.

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The Mets sent another great starter to the mound in the form of Clay Holmes, and he too mostly lived up to the hype.

After working around a single in the 1st, he got the first two batters of the 2nd before giving up a double to Dalton Rushing. Hyeseong Kim then followed that by smashing his first homer of the season, making it 2-0 just like that out of seemingly nothing.

Holmes did settle in from there, not giving up another run over his final three innings, even though none of them were clean. That did run his pitch count up, which is why he was out after five.

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Of course, on the other end was Shohei Ohtani, this time focusing just on his pitching. Not sure if that was a factor in his outing or not, but he looked as sharp as he ever has in Dodger Blue.

He started by cruising through a 1-2-3 frame in the 1st, thanks in part to a great play by Andy Pages, and repeated the same formula in the 2nd.

After a one-out double in the 3rd that gave the Mets their first baserunner, he rebounded to strikeout the next two — including winning an 11-pitch battle with Francisco Lindor — and damage was avoided.

The 4th resumed Ohtani’s dominance, as he got a clean frame on 12 pitches, including a strikeout on a nasty curve. He was spinning it today as well as I’ve ever seen.

The 5th was the problem inning, and he was both lucky and unlucky in it. Ohtani started things by issuing a walk to Francisco Alvarez, then seemed to give up a single to Carson Benge, but Alvarez got confused when Teoscar Hernandez short-hopped the ball in left and it resulted in Alvarez being forced out at second.

That proved key as Marcus Semien walked next to put a pair on, and then MJ Melendez hit his second double of the game to right that scored a run. It looked like Kyle Tucker got a bad read on it and should’ve had a chance, but the earned run streak was over, and the lead was down to 2-1 Dodgers.

That really seemed to make Ohtani level up, as he struck out Tommy Pham on a 100 MPH fastball and then got Lindor to lineout to keep the lead intact.

Ohtani then came right back in the 6th and resumed dominance, striking out the side to give him double digit strikeouts on the night.

The line is impressive, but he honestly looked better than that: 6 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 10 K, 95 Pitches.

Casual.

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Anyway, the Dodgers again got to the Mets pen immediately.

Teoscar led the 6th inning off with his fourth homer of the year to push things to 3-1.

They managed to keep the Dodgers down the rest of the 6th and then the 7th as well. However, things … well, they got blown up in the 8th.

Teoscar started a rally by hustling out a routine grounder to Lindor for a single, then Max Muncy followed with a walk, and Pages hit a ball that one-hopped the wall in right for a … single? Yeah, Teoscar … did his thing.

No matter, as Rushing stayed hot, obliterating the first pitch he saw for a grand slam to blow the game open at 7-1.

They added another thanks to a Tucker homer, his second to make it 8-1 before the onslaught was over.

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For the Dodgers pen, they were fresh and had to cover just three innings.

They started things with Blake Treinen in the 7th, who continues to look rejuvenated. He did give up a one-out double, but continued to execute when it was necessary for a scoreless frame.

Tanner Scott followed in the 8th with another 1-2-3 frame from him thanks to a gem from Kim at short.

The cushion then allowed them to get Kyle Hurt into the game in the 9th for his first MLB appearance in around two years, he issued a single and hit a batter with one out before giving up a two-out bloop single to make it 8-2. No worries, though, he managed to secure the victory in the end.

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14-4, pretty absurd.

The Dodgers will now have a day off tomorrow and then will travel to Colorado for a four-game series against the Rockies. Horrifying. It will start at 2:40 PM HT/5:40 PM PT/8:40 PM ET with Tyler Glasnow on the bump against Ryan Feltner.

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