Ohtani shows off 'dad strength' with 3 extra-base hits

LOS ANGELES -- When Shohei Ohtani announced that he and his wife had welcomed a baby girl last weekend, there were some tongue-in-cheek musings about how Ohtani could take the well-documented "dad strength" phenomenon to another level, as he tends to do with just about everything.

But for once, Ohtani did not quite meet the lofty expectations surrounding him. In his first four games off the paternity list, he went 2-for-16 with two singles, not showing any signs of his newfound dad strength.

It was really only a matter of time, though. Ohtani found his power stroke in Saturday night's 8-4 win over the Pirates, hitting a game-tying RBI double in the seventh inning. That set the stage for Teoscar Hernández's go-ahead solo shot in the eighth before Kiké Hernández poured on some insurance with a pinch-hit three-run blast.

Ohtani went 3-for-5 with two doubles, a triple and a stolen base. In addition to knotting the game late, he also scored a pair of runs.

"It was a really good start to something that hopefully will be a good streak," Ohtani said on SportsNet LA, through interpreter Will Ireton. "I haven’t been playing well, so it was a good night."

In the previous night's 3-0 loss, Yoshinobu Yamamoto had turned in a start that wasn't quite as strong as his last time out, but it was reasonably enough to get the job done. Roki Sasaki was in a similar situation when he exited in a tie game with two outs in the sixth, but the Dodgers' late rally ensured a better outcome.

Sasaki did not factor into the decision in his sixth Major League start, allowing three runs on five hits and two walks. He struck out four and was an out away from recording back-to-back quality starts. Unlike in his previous start, when his velocity took a worrisome dip, Sasaki sat right around his season average with his fastball.

On his first pitch of the ballgame, Sasaki served up a homer to the Pirates' Oneil Cruz, who reached out and tagged a fastball outside at 102.3 mph off the bat. But Sasaki appeared to shrug off the leadoff blast, a sign of growth as the 23-year-old right-hander continues to settle into the big leagues.

"I felt pretty good with my fastball in my 'pen, so I wanted to be aggressive with it," Sasaki said through Ireton. "I know one went out, but I really wanted to stick to that throughout the game."

Said manager Dave Roberts: "He reset right there, and I think the next pitch was a strike. He kind of got back in there and got back into his rhythm."

By the time Sasaki returned to the mound for the second, his team had already pulled ahead. The Dodgers got back in the game right away when Ohtani led off the bottom of the first with a double and scored on a Teoscar Hernández two-bagger three batters later.

Much has been made of Ohtani's limited opportunities with runners in scoring position this season, but he's still made an impact as a table-setter atop the order. He's scored 25 runs in as many games, tied with the Cubs' Kyle Tucker for the second most in the Majors behind only the Brewers' Brice Turang (26).

"You've got to be locked in and ready to go from the jump. And you've got to be able to execute right away," said Pirates starter Mitch Keller. "I didn't execute a sweeper to him, and he hit a leadoff double that got them going. So you just gotta be ready to go from pitch one with these guys."

Hours before Ohtani's big night at the plate, he also touched the mound for the first time since becoming a father. He did not throw his usual bullpen session last weekend while spending time away from the team for the birth of his daughter, and he only played catch rather than throw off the mound last Wednesday because of the layoff.

As Ohtani works toward his return to being a two-way player, the Dodgers have tried their best to ensure that his buildup as a pitcher doesn't take away from what he brings to the team as its everyday DH. When he has a big night, good results typically follow for the team at large.

"It's great when you see Shohei hitting the ball hard to the outfield for an extra-base hit," Teoscar Hernández said. "He's the one that always, if he's on base, we're going to follow him."