Phillies Grateful Dodgers Pulled Shohei Ohtani From No-Hitter

Sep 16, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Shohei Ohtani (17) reacts after left fielder Alex Call (12) caught a ball at the wall off Philadelphia Phillies left fielder Max Kepler (17) in the fifth inning at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

The Los Angeles Dodgers watched in awe on Tuesday evening as superstar Shohei Ohtani pitched five innings without allowing a hit and later launched his 50th home run of the season.

The night was spoiled, however, as a four-run lead when Ohtani exited the mound was met with a six-run inning from the Philadelphia Phillies en route to taking the second consecutive game against LA this week.

After the game, the Phillies spoke on the emotions they felt when they no longer had to face Ohtani and his 99.2 mph average fastball on Tuesday.

More news: Dodgers' Dave Roberts Has Coy Response to Shohei Ohtani Pitching First Postseason Game

“A little sigh of relief he got pulled out,” Phillies left fielder Brandon Marsh said.

Philadelphia's Rafael Marchan also shared his thoughts on what it is like to witness the greatness of Ohtani, but still knowing the task at hand is to continue winning ball games.

“Being able to throw the way he throws and also hit the way he hits, it is really special,” Marchán said. “But they took him out. They took him out, and we had a chance, and we won the game.”

Another loss from the bullpen stings, and another loss after a Dodgers starting pitcher has gone at least five no-hit innings this month is just as devastating.

How is Shohei Ohtani Doing as a Pitcher?

Ohtani had a long-awaited start to get back to pitching professionally for the first time since 2023, but pitched one inning in each of his first two starts this past June to mark the end of an arduous rehab assignment as well as his first moments pitching in a Dodgers uniform.

Overall, Ohtani has a 3.29 ERA across 41 innings of work. In this span, he has hurled 54 strikeouts to just nine walks. What is equally as impressive is Ohtani's fastball has actually gained more velocity on average compared to 2023 before his second Tommy John surgery.

Ohtani is averaging 98.5 mph on his heater this season, and was at 96.8 on average back on the Los Angeles Angels.

The three-time MVP is also making quite the case to notch his fourth MVP award this season as he is hitting the cover off the ball in addition to his pitching prowess. Ohtani is batting .282 with an NL-leading .611 slugging percentage and an NL-leading 1.006 OPS.

For more Dodgers news, head over to Dodgers on SI.