Shohei Ohtani reminded the SF Giants that his impact goes beyond the batter’s box

How crazy would it sound if I told you that a hitter who has barely done any damage against the Giants this season still ended up being the main reason they lost a game, knowing that, in that game, he never even grabbed a bat?

That is the one-of-one talent that Shohei Ohtani is. Giants pitchers have done a fabulous job this season against the four-time MVP. In his four starts as a hitter, Ohtani has gone just 3-for-22 (.136) with a .447 OPS while drawing just one walk and homering just once, a solo shot.

But the thing with Ohtani is that he can be just as threatening with a pitcher’s glove. And the Giants are well aware of that. In his second outing on the mound against San Francisco this season — after tossing six shutout innings on April 22 — Ohtani one-upped himself by throwing seven shutout innings, allowing just four hits, and striking out eight batters in the Giants’ 4-0 loss to the Dodgers.

Ohtani dominates Giants yet again as a pitcher

If you think his league-low 0.82 ERA on the season is jaw-dropping, brace yourself for what I'm about to disclose to you. Across five appearances against the Orange and Black, Ohtani has posted a 0.32 ERA and struck out 33 batters. He hasn't allowed a run in his 13 innings pitched against the Giants this season and has recorded more strikeouts (15) than hits allowed (9).

“Sometimes you look at who’s a good matchup and I think with him, it doesn’t matter who you are in the league, you gotta strap it on, you gotta get out there and hook it up," said Tony Vitello pregame on facing Ohtani. "There aren't a lot of guys who profile as a great matchup against him.”

The only two hitters who had some sort of momentum against the pitching version of Ohtani were Matt Chapman and Rafael Devers. The former came into Wednesday's game with three extra-base hits, including two home runs, in 22 at-bats against him, and Devers went 2-for-3 with a double in their first meeting this season. Both guys ended up going 1-for-3 with two strikeouts apiece.

Despite all those video-game numbers, the Giants still found a way to pull out the win in their first game against Ohtani this season, thanks to Patrick Bailey’s memorable three-run no-doubter in the seventh inning after Ohtani had walked off the mound.

This time, there was no hero. Even worse, the Giants wasted their only legitimate opportunity to get runs across. With two runners on base and just one out, Drew Gilbert stepped to the plate and hit a deep fly ball — one that didn't appear particularly threatening — and Adames started rounding third base as if he thought the ball was going to drop or he had lost track of the number of outs. Turns out, the second assumption was the right one.

It's not the first time this season a player has forgotten the number of outs. Jerar Encarnacion — who's since been designated for assignment — committed a similar blunder earlier this season.

“On the whole though, I think the base running thing is something we addressed in spring training. We really put a huge emphasis on it. I thought we came out of there improved," said Tony Vitello post game

“Lost track of the outs and a mistake on a read too. But you know, obviously it’s a mistake that can happen in the game and you know, that mistake is probably the most ashamed I’ve felt in the game. I know that it can’t happen and it was my fault. That’s on me," explained Adames postgame.

Adames was seen chopping it up with Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts just a couple of pitches before committing the costly mistake. When asked if it distracted him in any way, the 30-year-old was adamant that it did not.

"No, I do that every time. Because of that then I’ll make mistakes every two days," he said“Just come tomorrow with the right mentality and not make the same mistake. Obviously, we’ve been playing good baseball lately, so we have to continue down that path.”

Indeed, before getting shut out for a league-high eighth time on Wednesday night, the Giants had finally started to pick it up offensively. Since entering their series against the Pittsburgh Pirates with the fewest runs scored in the majors (115), the fewest walks by a significant margin (70), the fewest home runs (23), the lowest on-base percentage (.284), and the second-lowest OPS (.646), they had been among the league's most productive teams, sparked by two key hitters heating up.

Over their three-game set against the Pirates and first two matchups at Dodger Stadium, the Giants put up the most runs in baseball (30), drew an above-average number of walks (15), boasted the second-highest batting average (.284), and posted the second-highest on-base percentage (.355) and fourth-highest OPS (.813).

But with Ohtani on the mound, they looked a lot more like the first-month Giants. They scratched out just six hits — only one for extra bases — and struck out 10 times.

Bryce Eldridge accounted for three of those strikeouts, including two on just three pitches. The 21-year-old slugger has had a rough time at the plate since being called up on May 4, along with catcher Jesus Rodriguez.

In his seven games so far this season, he's collected just two hits in 21 at-bats (.095) and has posted a .412 OPS. One of those two knocks was his first home run in the big leagues, a splash hit into McCovey Cove in the Giants' 13-3 loss to the Pirates.

He wasn’t exactly dealt the best hand, though. With Vitello deciding to sit him in the Giants' 9-3 series-opening win, Eldridge had to face last year's World Series MVP, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and a frontrunner for the Cy Young Award, Shohei Ohtani. But despite his early struggles, Vitello likes what Eldridge has brought to this roster.

"I do think that how appealing Bryce's power is and just his professional at-bats he gives you despite a young age kind of adds a different element to all of that that we didn't have at the very beginning," he said pregame.

The Giants still have an opportunity to win the series tomorrow night, which would be their second series win of the season against the Dodgers. And after going just 7-19 last season against the NL West's two most menacing teams — the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers — they're off to a much better start.

They've already matched last season's win total with their 6-2 victory on Tuesday — going 3-3 against the Padres and 4-2 against the Dodgers — and a win on Friday with Landen Roupp on the mound would already push them past that total.

Good news for the Giants: Ohtani will neither pitch nor hit on Thursday, and him not being on the mound might just be the biggest relief.

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