Padres vs Dodgers: Shohei Ohtani pitches first time in two years as Dodgers beat Padres

Shohei Ohtani made a notable return to the mound and delivered at the plate as the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the visiting San Diego Padres 6-3 on Monday to open a four-game series.

Pitching for the first time in nearly two years following a second Tommy John surgery in 2023, Ohtani worked one inning, allowing one run on two hits while throwing 28 pitches and hitting 100.2 mph on the radar gun. He also starred offensively, going 2-for-4 with an RBI double in the third and a run-scoring single in the fourth.



Max Muncy drove in two with a clutch single, and Will Smith added two hits as the Dodgers earned their sixth win in eight games - including three against the Padres during that span.

San Diego's Manny Machado homered and collected two RBIs, while Fernando Tatis Jr. recorded a pair of hits. Padres starter Dylan Cease opened the game with five straight strikeouts but was tagged for six runs on eight hits over five innings. He fanned nine and walked one in the loss.


The Padres struck early, with singles from Tatis and Luis Arraez setting up a Machado sacrifice fly in the first. The Dodgers responded in the third, tying the game with an Andy Pages double followed by Ohtani’s two-out RBI double.


The Dodgers broke the game open in the fourth with five runs off Cease. Muncy’s two-run single gave the Dodgers a 3-2 lead, followed by RBI singles from Tommy Edman, Ohtani, and Mookie Betts.

Machado trimmed the deficit with his 11th homer of the season off Dodgers reliever Ben Casparius, who allowed two runs across 3 2/3 innings to improve to 5-1. Kirby Yates sealed the win with a clean ninth inning for his second save.