Ohtani departed after walking Tyler Stephenson and throwing six straight balls in the bottom of the fourth. Ohtani, who had Tommy John surgery on his right elbow in Sept 2023, was making his seventh start of the season and had reached the fourth inning for the first time this season.

Ohtani threw three balls, including consecutive wild pitches to Spencer Steer, before staff came out to see him and quickly removed him from the mound.

However, the Dodgers did not take him out of the lineup. In the fifth, Ohtani appeared in the on-deck circle but did not bat as Mookie Betts grounded out to end the inning.

The right-hander was facing Cincinnati for the first time since Aug 23, 2023, when he pitched just 1 1/3 innings in the first game of a doubleheader while with the Los Angeles Angels. A month later, he had surgery to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right arm.