

Shohei Ohtani is at the plate and on the mound once again. Perhaps your coffee spot’s barista will also become your bartender today. Maybe your pet dog will put in a few hours as a cat. Ohtani’s two-way turns bring extra attention to any given game, and Wednesday night’s tilt between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Cincinnati Reds has national, regional and local viewing options. Somewhere, Decoy wags his tail and Mr. Redlegs twirls his mustache.
How to watch Dodgers at Reds
- Venue: Great American Ball Park — Cincinnati
- Time: 7:10 p.m. Wednesday
- TV: MLB.TV (national), MLB Network (regional), SportsNet LA and FDSN Ohio (local)
- Streaming: Fubo ($20 off)
- Watching in person? Get tickets on StubHub.
Ohtani’s previous pitching adventure was a mixed bag, at least by his superhuman standards. In three innings of home work against the Minnesota Twins, he was tagged with five base runners (four hits, one walk) and gave up his first home run of the season (Byron Buxton, a deep shot to left-center). He also struck out three batters and did enough as an opener to put his Dodgers in winning position. A homer in support of himself helped, too:
When your pitcher homers too! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/7qeVMYKW4N
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) July 22, 2025
The NL West-leading Dodgers are 4-2 in Ohtani starts this season, and Ohtani hits Cincy with a 1.50 ERA across 12 frames. He averaged 24.3 pitches in his June outings, but has bumped that mark up to 37.7 in July. The three-time MVP has also enjoyed a torrid month in the batter’s box, and comes into Wednesday night as the league’s No. 1 hitter in run value, expected slugging, barrel rate and hard-hit percentage.
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His teammates have tapered off into a midsummer lull, though. Mookie Betts has hovered around the Mendoza Line in his last 30 days of action, and Freddie Freeman’s strikeouts have increased each month. Teoscar Hernández and Tommy Edman have both fallen off their home run paces. Michael Conforto, the starting lineup’s clear weak link since Opening Day, carries a negative WAR into August. Los Angeles will look to bolster its bullpen at the trade deadline, but it could certainly use another bat amid the recent power outage.
Cincinnati finds itself jostling for a potential wild-card spot but sits in third place in the crowded NL Central. The Reds lead MLB in ERA+, which adjusts for park factors. The offense is above league averages in runs, hits and on-base percentage. Elly De La Cruz is one of the sport’s most thrilling and heartening watches, still rounding into his game at age 23. And if nothing else, the team has the Terry Francona factor — their manager famously broke Boston’s World Series drought back in 2004, then in 2016 helped Cleveland earn its first pennant of the 21st century. Cincinnati last won a playoff series in 1995, and has just four playoff appearances in the time since.
Ohtani is countered by right-hander Nick Martinez (9–9, 4.69 ERA). That ERA is inflated by a disastrous July 8 outing versus the Miami Marlins (10 earned runs in five innings). His fastball comes in at just 92.5 mph, and he’s in the 3 percentile for offspeed run value.
Most home runs in both jerseys
- Frank Robinson, 343 (324 CIN, 19 LAD)
- Eric Davis, 222 (203 CIN, 19 LAD)
- Matt Kemp, 204 (203 LAD, 1 CIN)
Pitchers with 20+ wins in both jerseys
- Dolf Luque (154 Reds, 21 Dodgers)
- Dom Newcombe (123 Dodgers, 24 Reds)
- Dutch Ruether (54 Dodgers, 36 Reds)
- Tim Belcher (50 Dodgers, 24 Reds)
- Clarence Mitchell (23 Dodgers, 20 Reds)
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(Photo of Shohei Ohtani: Harry How / Getty Images)
This news was originally published on this post .
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