With any other pitcher, what happened next would have been simple.<\/p>\n
At that point, Ohtani had not given up a hit to the Philadelphia Phillies. He had thrown only 68 pitches. He was flashing the kind of dominance that would have made a no-hitter feel like a real possibility.<\/p>\n
With any other pitcher, Roberts would have extended the leash.<\/p>\n
Ohtani, however, is not like any other pitcher.<\/p>\n
He is a two-way star, coming off a second career Tommy John surgery, who has been managed with kid gloves and bubblewrap in his return to pitching duties this year. He started his comeback by pitching one inning, then two, then so on until he built up to five. Weeks ago, the team \u2014 in consultation with club doctors, Ohtani\u2019s agent and the reigning MVP himself \u2014 decided to avoid pushing him past the five-inning mark for at least the remainder of the regular season.<\/p>\n
His health, both on the mound and at the plate, remains the priority.<\/p>\n
Thus, while Ohtani told Roberts he still felt good, Roberts said he never had any thought of sending him out for the sixth. Roberts\u2019 question, the manager later explained, was only to ascertain information for future decision-making over Ohtani\u2019s workload. As far as Tuesday was concerned? <\/p>\n
\u201cHe wasn\u2019t gonna go back out,\u201d Roberts said.<\/p>\n
By not sending Ohtani back out, of course, the Dodgers rolled the dice with their ever-faulty bullpen. And in one of the group\u2019s worst performances this year, they yielded nine painful runs over a miserable four innings in a nightmarish 9-6 loss to<\/a> the Phillies at Dodger Stadium.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve been very steadfast in every situation as far as innings for [Ohtani\u2019s] usage \u2014 from one inning to two innings to three to four to five. We haven\u2019t deviated from that,\u201d Roberts said.<\/p>\n \u201cI was trying to get his pulse for going forward, where he\u2019s at, continuing to go to the sixth inning. And he says, \u2018Feel OK.\u2019 So that was good. But I\u2019m not gonna have a plan for five innings, and then he pitches well and say, \u2018Hey, now you\u2019re gonna go six innings.\u2019 He\u2019s too important. And if something happens, then that\u2019s on me for changing it, and we haven\u2019t done that all year.\u201d<\/p>\n What the Dodgers have done all year is watch their bullpen meltdown in late-game situations.<\/p>\n On Tuesday night, it happened again, starting as soon as Ohtani left the mound with a 4-0 cushion.<\/p>\n In the top of the sixth, the Phillies swiftly took the lead with five straight knocks against Justin Wrobleski, including a two-run double from Bryce Harper and a go-ahead three-run home run from Brandon Marsh, then extended it with another home run from Max Kepler off Edgardo Henriquez that made it 6-4. <\/p>\n Shohei Ohtani watches his 50th home run of the season.<\/p>\n (Gina Ferazzi \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n The Dodgers battled back to level the score in the eighth, with the help of Ohtani\u2019s 50th home run of the season, making him just the sixth player in MLB history with consecutive 50-homer campaigns, only to have the bullpen turn right back around and blow things again in the ninth, when Blake Treinen gave up a decisive three-run home run to backup Phillies catcher Rafael March\u00e1n.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s just the way it goes,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cGuys gotta do their jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n