Shohei Ohtani doesn't need to hit. 

Prior to Wednesday's series finale against the New York Mets, the Los Angeles Dodgers released their starting lineup without a familiar face. Two-way man Ohtani would only toe the rubber instead of taking his spot in the leadoff spot, something he hasn't done since May 28, 2021.

"After getting hit by a pitch, Doc thought that it was a good idea for me and for the team to just focus on the pitching side of the game," Ohtani said on his pitching-focused game.  

Despite not taking any hacks in the batter's box, Ohtani dominated the struggling Mets, striking out 10 while only giving up two hits, en route to an 8-2 win. 

Those 10 strikeouts match a career high in a Dodgers uniform and his 22 whiffs is a career high with Los Angeles. 

The Dodgers struck first in the bottom of the second inning as Hyeseong Kim launched his first home run of 2026 for 372 feet. It was a two-run shot that marked his fourth homer in his early career.

New York stayed patient and it paid off in the fifth.

Ohtani's command began to dip, issuing two walks to Francisco Alvarez and Marcus Semien. 

With one out, MJ Melendez, who made his season debut with the Mets, cracked his second double off Ohtani. 

A ground-rule double that was partially due to a bad jump by outfielder Kyle Tucker in right field drove in the first Mets' runs in what seems like ages ago. 

That seemed to visibly irritate Ohtani on the mound. He threw four straight fastballs topping out at 100 mph and striking out Tommy Pham to end the inning. 

"I just added a little bit more intensity after they scored a run, but overall, it felt really nice and easy and loose throughout the whole outing," Ohtani said. 

Ohtani put the cherry on top in his final inning if work, striking out the side in order and recording double-digit strikeouts for the first time since his historic NLCS Game 4 performance. 

Teoscar Hernandez added some cushion of offense, launching a 370-foot solo shot to give the Dodgers a 3-1 lead. 

You can never have too much cushion though apparently. Dalton Rushing, who was in the designated hitter's spot for Ohtani, found himself up to bat with the bases loaded and no outs. 

All it took was one pitch for Rushing to crank a 412-foot go-ahead grand slam to open the scoring wide open. 

Tucker cranked the Dodgers' fourth home run of the evening, stapling in an 8-1 score. That home run marked his first long ball hit at Dodger Stadium. The Mets added a run in the ninth inning, but they never got closer. 

The Dodgers bullpen, which consisted of Blake Treinen, Tanner Scott, and Kyle Hurt, logged in three straight quality innings to secure the series sweep against the Mets. 

Looking ahead, the Dodgers have an off day on Thursday before traveling to Colorado to play the Rockies for a four-game series starting Friday.

Roberts confirmed in the pregame that the pitching probables for the series in Colorado will go as followed: Friday will showcase Tyler Glasnow, Saturday is Emmet Sheehan, Sunday is Roki Sasaki, and Justin Wrobleski closes out the series on Monday. 

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