Lately, though, he’s started to fall away from his routine against the San Diego Padres.
The Padres and Dodgers have had a heated rivalry in recent seasons, and it’s clear the teams don’t like each other.
This couldn’t have been clearer earlier this season when a tense series between the two teams ended in a bench clearing brawl.
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LA won the first three games of the series, with Andy Pages getting hit twice and Shohei Ohtani once. Padres outfielder Fernando Tatis Jr. also contributed a pitch in the second game of the series.
San Diego had a 5-0 lead in the final game of the set, and Dodgers reliever Jack Little came in for his MLB debut. Little caught Tatis in the hand with a fastball, bringing Padres manager Mike Shildt out of the dugout. Shildt yelled at Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, causing him to enter the field and exchange shoves. The incident saw both dugouts flood onto the field, causing a massive delay in the match.
The match resumed after the benches had been cleared, but emotions were still running high. In the bottom of the ninth, Padres closer Robert Suarez threw to Ohtani, marking the second time he was hit during the series.
Suarez was immediately ejected from the game and the Dodgers looked ready to pour out of the dugout again. However, Ohtani motioned for them to remain seated, and the game continued.
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After the match, Shildt expressed his frustrations about the incident and did not explicitly deny that Suarez had deliberately struck Ohtani.
“After a while it’s enough” Shildt said. “Intentionally, unintentionally, the fact is I objected to it.”
Ohtani has not greeted the Padres dugout since, indicating he has not forgotten the incident.
Shildt is no longer in charge of the Padres after retiring at the end of the 2025 season, so whether or not Ohtani will greet the Padres dugout next season is uncertain.
Photo credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn images
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