Wednesday against the Cardinals, Ohtani pitched four innings, struck out eight, and allowed a run on two third-inning hits that strung together wouldn’t have left the infield: A popup by Jordan Walker that second baseman Miguel Rojas lost in the sun, and a gutsy two-out squeeze bunt by Brendan Donovan that scored Walker from third.

With the count being 1-1, Ohtani timed Cardinals pitcher Kyle Leahy 's 92 miles-per-hour sinker before winding his bat up to launch the ball 440 feet to center field into the stands to help gain Los Angeles' first lead of the game, 2-1.

Shohei Ohtani homered for his 1,000th career hit and struck out a season-high eight in four innings on the mound, but the St. Louis Cardinals rallied late to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-3 on Wednesday.