The San Francisco Giants defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-2 on May 12 at Dodger Stadium, with Giants catcher Eric Haase hitting two home runs, becoming the fourth Giants catcher ever to do so against the Dodgers. Giants pitcher Adrian Houser earned his first win as a Giant, throwing 5⅔ innings and allowing two runs. Shohei Ohtani broke an 11-game homerless streak for the Dodgers with a third-inning home run in the same game [1, 2].
On May 13, Ohtani delivered a dominant pitching performance, throwing seven shutout innings with eight strikeouts and allowing four hits and two walks. He lowered his ERA to 0.82, the lowest in Major League Baseball through mid-May 2026, and helped the Dodgers shut out the Giants 4-0. For the fourth time this season, Ohtani did not bat in the game as Dodgers manager Dave Roberts managed his workload. Dodgers hitters Santiago Espinal and Mookie Betts hit back-to-back home runs to support Ohtani's effort [3, 4, 5].
Ohtani is in the third year of a 10-year, $700 million contract with the Dodgers. He has been a leading Cy Young candidate this season due to his pitching excellence but has struggled offensively, hitting just .240 with seven home runs, a down year compared to prior seasons. Roberts said fatigue from pitching has affected Ohtani's hitting mechanics earlier than usual this year and that he manages Ohtani's lineup appearances accordingly. "Relief. He smiled, he laughed. I just think that he's gonna feel good about the offensive side tonight," Roberts remarked after the May 13 win, adding Ohtani is "hyper-focused on the preparation part of it, and then obviously the days that he starts, the execution." Ohtani said, "if I’m not contributing offensively, then I know I can contribute on the pitching side of things and vice versa" [2, 4].
The Dodgers have lost 14 of their last 23 games and dropped to second place behind the Padres in the NL West as of May 13. The series split gives the Giants their first win against the Dodgers this season, while the Dodgers hold two wins in six games against San Francisco [3, 2].
Ohtani previously returned to pitching in mid-2025 after a second UCL surgery and spent 2024 and early 2025 focusing on hitting full-time. He has won multiple MVP awards in both leagues and helped the Dodgers to back-to-back World Series titles in 2024 and 2025 [2, 5].
The Dodgers will continue the season trying to capitalize on Ohtani's pitching dominance while managing his dual role. They are scheduled to play their next game on May 14 as they seek to improve their standing in the division.
