The sound alone gave a jolt to the ballpark.

For too long, Dodger Stadium hadn’t heard anything like it.

In his return from the injured list on Wednesday night, Shohei Ohtani came up in the bottom of the seventh inning and put a charge into a ball that went soaring through the late-summer night sky. 

Ohtani had squared it up, connecting on a 99 mph fastball from San Diego Padres right-hander Bradgley Rodriguez. He sent it scorching off his barrel, recording an exit velocity of 103.4 mph.

For a brief moment, Chavez Ravine roared in anticipation.

But then, Padres center fielder Jackson Merrill settled under it. The 384-foot drive died at the warning track.

In the Dodgers’ eventual 5-1 loss to the Padres, the swing was a reflection of where Ohtani finds himself at the moment: By all accounts, much improved from the visibly diminished state he was in before going on the injured list with right arm and left knee injuries; but also, still not back to his completely normal self with the start of the playoffs less than two weeks away.

“He certainly feels way better,” president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said pregame. “I think just getting as many at-bats as he can and that rhythm and timing back before we head into October is going to be really helpful.”

In his comeback game, Ohtani got four trips to the plate. He singled in the first inning on a 99 mph line drive to right. He drew a six-pitch walk in the third, showing improved plate discipline than he had during a dismal couple weeks leading up to his IL stint. 

But he also struck out with the bases loaded in the fourth, squandering the Dodgers’ best chance to erase an early deficit by fanning on a full-count sinker from Padres reliever David Morgan (after having what initially appeared to be a run-scoring walk earlier in the at-bat overturned on an ABS challenge).

Then, after his flyout in the seventh, he went down swinging again against Padres closer Mason Miller in the ninth to wrap a 1-for-4 showing.

“He looked good,” manager Dave Roberts said. “It just felt like he wasn’t sped up at all, and I think he came out of it pretty well.”

The most encouraging thing, of course, was the way Ohtani looked.

He wasn’t shaking out his arm. He didn’t have any awkward one-handed finishes with his swing. And while his drive in the seventh didn’t clear the fence, it still marked the hardest contact he had made with a ball in almost six weeks (when measured by exit velo).

“I think if you look back at the last couple weeks when he was active, he wasn’t really getting to that pitch,” Roberts said. “I think tonight showed that he’s in a good spot physically.”

The question now is how much more Ohtani can improve before, and then throughout, October –– with the Dodgers remaining cautiously optimistic that the worst of his season-long health saga is finally behind him.

“There’s no question [his injuries] affected him,” Friedman said. “And I think the fact that he feels as good as he does right now is certainly encouraging. Now, it’s about making sure that holds.”

Indeed, before going on the IL, Ohtani was a shell of himself offensively.

He had gone 6-for-his-last-52 before finally being shut down. He was showing visible signs of pain and subtle deficiencies in his swing mechanics. Any flickering hopes of him returning to pitching this season were also finally blown out.

“A few weeks ago,” Roberts said, “you could see that he couldn’t hit a fastball, he was underneath everything, and that it was a slower swing.”

For one night, at least, the Dodgers saw progress.

But that doesn’t mean Ohtani is back to 100%.

Roberts was careful to temper expectations before the game, noting that “it’s been a while since he’s played.” 

Friedman also highlighted some of the lingering uncertainties surrounding the 32-year-old slugger, saying the Dodgers would closely monitor how Ohtani feels after taking “game-intensity at-bats” again.

“These aren’t things that there’s a clear answer to,” Friedman said when asked what version of Ohtani the Dodgers anticipate seeing in the playoffs. “I think everyone, this time of year, is dealing with some stuff.”

That might be true. But two weeks ago, Ohtani was clearly in a worse-than-normal spot.

That’s why he went on the IL. It’s why he missed six of seven games even before that. It’s why Wednesday felt like such an important test, with only five games remaining in the regular season for him to find “some rhythm and timing” with his swing entering the playoffs, as Friedman put it.

“It’s go-time for all of us,” Roberts said beforehand. “I can’t really speak to if he’s going to hit a homer tonight, but I do think that there’s going to be a heightened focus. So I think he’s in a good spot.”

For now, the Dodgers will take him simply looking better.

Astros 5, Mariners 6

Mariners Win: Julio Rodríguez, +0.46 WPA
Rewrite: George Kirby, -0.18 WPA

Game Thread Comment of the Day

Shohei Ohtani’s swing was a little out in front of a slider delivered by Padres left-hander Robbie Ray. But Ohtani held back his hands long enough to extend them to the pitch and shoot it through the right side of the infield.

It wasn’t flashy. But considering it was his first at-bat in more than two weeks, in a tough matchup no less, it was a promising sign.

“It’s been a while since he’s played in a game, but it just felt like he wasn’t sped up at all,” manager Dave Roberts said after the Dodgers’ 5-1 loss to the Padres. “And I think he came out of it pretty well.”

The good news quickly dried up for the Dodgers after that, as they missed a chance to clinch a first-round bye with a win. But Ohtani’s return was still significant, and the success of his end-of-season tune-up will have playoff implications.

Ohtani did not address reporters Wednesday and has only done so once in the last five weeks, despite multiple requests.

The Dodgers activated Ohtani, who went one-for-four Wednesday, from the 15-day IL before the game and optioned rookie Josue De Paula to Triple A. De Paula is still under consideration for the National League Division Series roster as a bat off the bench.

“This was the original thought, that once Shohei gets back, we’re going to send him out,” manager Dave Roberts said. “We had a runway to give him, which we gave him and he performed more than admirably. This also, as far as the timing, just gives us an opportunity to potentially have him back for the postseason. He’s a part of the conversation, and he’s earned that, and that’s what I told him last night.”

Read more:The Dodgers’ Josue De Paula can hit. Now he’s out to prove he can play defense, too

De Paula joined triple-A Oklahoma City for Game 2 of the PCL Championship on Wednesday. And Ohtani slid into the Dodgers lineup, hitting second in the batting order for the first time this season, with Mookie Betts leading off against the Padres southpaw.

“I know Shohei, Mookie, they’re always on board with whatever I decide to do,” Roberts said. “I think it just makes it tougher to navigate versus left. There’s a Mookie tax [to get to Ohtani]. If you want to get to Freddie [Freeman], there’s a Will Smith tax. I like that. And versus a right-hander, I like kind of flipping those two for the same reasons.”

Ohtani, welcomed back in his first at-bat by a partial standing ovation, walked in his second plate appearance. And with two out and the bases loaded in the bottom of the fourth inning, he appeared to have walked again.

Then Padres catcher Ethan Salas tapped the top of his head to challenge the ball call. And an ABS review showed the fastball had clipped the top of the strike zone. Ohtani fouled off the next two pitches before whiffing on a sinker to end the inning.

That missed opportunity rolled right into a sloppy fifth inning for the Dodgers defense.

Starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto had given up a two-run homer to Manny Machado the previous inning but had otherwise avoided damage.

To open the fifth, he induced Salas to hit the ball on the ground, but it got away from second baseman Tommy Edman as he dove up the middle, for a single.

Yamamoto then got a soft grounder out of Fernando Tatís Jr. But it was too soft, giving Tatís time to reach first before third baseman Max Muncy could get off a throw.

With runners on first and second, Yamamoto had a chance to contribute on defense, fielding Dustin Harris’ comebacker bunt. But Yamamoto’s throw to third sailed wide, allowing a run to score. Machado then made it a 4-1 game with a sacrifice fly.

Ohtani came up to the plate again in the seventh inning and put Dodgers fans on the edge of their seats by sending a long fly ball to straightaway center field. But the cheers died down as it fell shy of the fence.

“I think if you look back at the last couple weeks when he was active, he wasn’t really getting to that pitch,” Roberts said of the high fastball. “I think there might have been one pitch late that he squared up to left field that was at the top of the zone. But outside of that it was hard for him to catch up. I think tonight showed that he’s in a good spot physically.”

The top of the Dodgers order got one last chance to start a rally in the ninth inning, against star closer Mason Miller. Only Will Smith reached base, on a walk, and advanced to third on defensive indifference. Ohtani struck out on a slider.

“[Ohtani] certainly feels way better with the rest,” president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said before the game. “The biggest thing with five games to go is get him as many at-bats as we can, some rhythm and timing.”

Ohtani could get a day off in that span, Friedman said, but the Dodgers will make those decisions based on how he’s feeling.

Read more:Shohei Ohtani to return from IL Wednesday, but Dodgers still have unanswered questions in final week

“Just getting as many at-bats as he can and that rhythm and timing back before we head into October is going to be really helpful,” Friedman said.

Ohtani was not in rhythm before he landed on the IL. In the last three weeks before the Dodgers finally shelved him, he had a .130 batting average. And he only had two hits in his last seven games (26 at-bats) before the move.

“You end up making subconscious adjustments where you’re protecting yourself,” Friedman said, “and there’s just slight degradation as that’s happening that compounds over time.”

Though the Dodgers downplayed the correlation before Ohtani landed on the IL, they now hope that Ohtani’s improved health will go hand-in-hand with better performance.

“Shohei says he feels back to where he was earlier in the year, which is great, which is a good start,” Friedman said. “As they are coming back, it’s important for them to feel that way … now the question is, as you start to load on real games and that intensity and that workload, it’s making sure that what we’ve done keeps guys in position to be at their best.”

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Incredibly, the Diamondback’s season truly is coming down to the wire. In one sense, it’s an immense privilege that their postseason hopes are still alive at this point in the season. But it’s also incredibly frustrating to know their fate isn’t entirely their own and it’s tempting to look back at all of the wasted opportunities that could have made the difference. Ultimately, they can only control the outcomes of their own games and will have to hope the rest works itself out.

The D-Backs’ offense has not been particularly potent in the first inning – they prefer to do their damage later in the game as befits their comeback moniker. They own a modest .239/.304/.423 slash line in opening frames and have scored just 71 runs on the season, but you could have been fooled differently on Wednesday night. After Lars Nootbaar struck out to open the game, Ketel Marte lined the ball into left field, but instead of an easy second out, Zac Veen just completely whiffed on the ball and Marte ended up at second on the error. From there, the D-Backs took full advantage of the mental error with an RBI single from Gabriel Moreno and a pair of two-out singles from Pavin Smith and Nolan Arenado, the latter of which plated Moreno. But the coup de grace was a picture-perfect liner along the foul line from Corbin Carroll that resulted in his majors-leading 17th triple that scored both Smith and Arenado to give the D-Backs and Merrill Kelly an immediate four-run lead. Maddeningly, after the first inning, the D-Backs were mostly shut down offensively. They went down in order in four straight innings (six times overall) and even when they did get baserunners, they found ways to get themselves out of it with two separate double plays. Their final run came on a solo home run from Tim Tawa that just barely escaped the ballpark.

Kelly, who’s had anything but an easy year, did what the team needed him to do – especially when playing with a lead. He wasn’t dominant by any means, but he minimized the amount of traffic around him and pitched to contact wherever he could. His changeup was particularly devastating, generating four of the eight whiffs he had on the night. There were a couple trouble spots, particularly in the second and third innings. In the former, a one-out walk to Kyle Karros quickly turned into a run when Adael Adamor drove Carroll right up to the right field wall where he tried to make an incredible leaping catch but couldn’t quite complete the play that allowed the Rockies to get on the board and Adamor to reach second. Then in the fourth, consecutive singles from Ezequiel Tovar and our old friend Jake McCarthy opened the frame to put Rockies on the corners. Kelly did manage to strike out Cole Carrigg, but Hunter Goodman was able to elevate an inside slider deep enough into left field to score Tovar on the sacrifice fly. As has been talked about increasingly frequently, the Arizona bullpen is a real strength of the team and Torey Lovullo has stated he wants to dip into it as soon as he realistically can. It delivered once again tonight with 3.2 innings of one-run ball (a solo shot from Tovar that just cleared the fence) to provide a (mostly) stress-free win.

Of course, the D-Backs’ game was only half of the equation. The other half went down in Chavez Ravine where the Padres took down the Dodgers to move into the top Wild Card spot and bring Arizona’s elimination number (the combination of Arizona losses and San Diego wins) down to two. Their path to the postseason is not quite closed, but it’s so narrow that it’s difficult to even be able to see it. For now, they’ll need to win tomorrow for the sweep against the hapless Rockies before going into San Diego on Friday with their season on the line. It should be a fun, exciting few days of baseball as the season comes to a close.

After shutting out the Padres on Tuesday, the Dodgers could only muster one run in a 5-1 defeat on Wednesday, snapping their home winning streak at 11 games.

Both Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Robbie Ray kept the hitters in check over their first three innings, as Yamamoto secured three shutout innings on just 36 pitches while Ray needed 70 pitches in that same time.

Yamamoto began the top of the fourth inning by brushing the jersey of Dustin Harris on an inside pitch to give San Diego a leadoff baserunner, and Manny Machado ensured the Padres wouldn’t be shut out again as he launched a two-run home run to center field to give San Diego the first lead.

The Dodgers responded with two consecutive singles from Teoscar Hernández and Kyle Tucker to begin the bottom of the fourth inning, and Andy Pages had his first hit back from the injured list with a bloop single to center field. Ray managed to get Max Muncy to fly out to shallow center, but his night was done after tossing 84 pitches over 3 1/3 innings. He was charged with a run as Tommy Edman lifted a sacrifice fly to put the Dodgers on the board. Mookie Betts walked on four pitches to make it bases loaded with two outs for Shohei Ohtani, but David Morgan got him whiffing on a fastball at 99 miles per hour on a 3-2 count to leave them loaded.

San Diego picked up where they left off against Yamamoto in the top of the fifth inning, as Ethan Salas and Fernando Tatis Jr. both singled to open the frame. A bunt attempt from Harris was hit right back to Yamamoto, but an errant throw to third allowed Salas to score. Manny Machado brought home Tatis with a sacrifice fly to center field, giving him three RBI on the night and making it a three-run San Diego lead.

Yamamoto would finish his night going six innings, marking the first time he didn’t log at least seven innings in the month of September. Wednesday’s outing was the first time since September 2 where Yamamoto allowed at least two earned runs, with his four strikeouts on the night being the fewest since he struck out three against the Boston Red Sox on August 1. Yamamoto ends the regular season with a 2.53 ERA, striking out 182 hitters across 185 innings.

The Dodger bullpen would hold San Diego in check until the top of the ninth inning as Blake Treinen allowed an RBI single to Freddy Fermin, allowing Samad Taylor to score to make it a 5-1 Padres lead.

Teoscar Hernández recorded another three-hit game, his third of the month, finishing 3-4 with three singles while raising his season average to .270 for the first time since June 30.

Andy Pages also finished with a three-hit night in his second game off the injured list, giving him his first multi-hit game since August 17 against the Colorado Rockies. Shohei Ohtani finished 1-4 with a single, a walk and two strikeouts in his first game off the injured list.

With the Dodgers losing on Wednesday, they once again sit two games back of the Milwaukee Brewers for the top seed in the National League playoff picture. The Dodgers are still four games above the Atlanta Braves for a first-round bye, and their magic number to secure a bye remains at 1.

Game particulars

• Home runs— Manny Machado (29)
• WP— Yuki Matsui (4-1): 1 IP, 1 hit, 0 runs, 1 walk, 0 strikeouts
• LP— Yoshinobu Yamamoto (14-9): 6 IP, 5 hits, 4 runs (2 earned runs), 1 walk, 4 strikeouts

Up next

The Dodgers play their final home game of the regular season against San Diego on Thursday (7:10 p.m. PT, SportsNet LA) before heading up to San Francisco for their final regular season series. Tyler Glasnow faces Nick Pivetta.

Before Wednesday’s game between the Mets and Texas Rangers, manager Andy Green was asked what is the biggest area in Nolan McLean’s game that he can take a step forward in to reach that next level that the skipper always talks about.

Green mentioned the right-hander throwing strikes consistently and limiting his walks, but was quick to say, “and that’s not by diminishing stuff, it’s by using the stuff you have and understanding how to get ahead and to finish.”

It was one of the many times this season that Green spoke about his young players in a way that seemed to challenge them – even when they’ve played great – because he knows they’re capable of more.

Shortly thereafter, McLean took the mound and, heeding his manager’s advice, looked amazing through four perfect innings. Things went awry for the rookie in the fifth inning, however, when the Rangers tagged him for two runs after McLean allowed three hits and a walk in the inning.

Just a few hours before that, Green practically predicted it.

“I actually think he does that really well for a pretty good portion of each game and then there’s usually one inning where it’s like here for a little, kinda lost it, now I found it again, now I compete, now I get out of it,” the skipper said. “The less and less he does that, and look he’s not gonna be perfect, but the more he drives that down and the less and less he does that he’s gonna get himself out of more jams by not getting into them.”

The foreshadowing by Green was uncanny, though it shouldn’t come as a surprise considering he’s known most of these young players since they joined the organization as the Senior Vice President for Player Development.

After that difficult fifth inning, McLean went right back to being dominant and retired the next six batters in order on just 13 pitches to complete his final outing of the season. Even in the fifth inning, the right-hander had the bases loaded with one out and managed to exit with just one run scoring.

“Those guys were aggressive so any time a team’s aggressive like that and you’re filling up the strike zone, you’re relying a lot on your defense and sometimes they just don’t hit it at guys and in the fifth inning they hit a few balls away from people and that’s part of it,” McLean said. “So I was just kind of trusting my stuff that they were eventually gonna hit it at people to try to minimize and if I get to two strikes I’ll execute a pitch and punch him out. 

“And then going back out in the sixth, making sure to keep that same game plan and not necessarily getting tentative just because they put a few balls in play [earlier].”

McLean ended his rookie campaign by going 12-10 with a 3.16 ERA, eighth-lowest in the NL, in 31 starts. He’s also the only Mets starter this season who didn’t miss a single start, impressive for a 25-year-old rookie whose season started at the World Baseball Classic pitching for Team USA.

“I try to take pride in going out there and competing every single time, whether I have my stuff or not and that’s what matters most to me, just going out there and making each start,” McLean said.

Meanwhile, Green, for all his challenges that he gives his players, was impressed with McLean’s body of work and knows the right-hander will get back to work soon enough after he enjoys this one just a little while longer.

“I don’t think that was like his vintage stuff and it still found a way to be really, really good,” Green said about McLean’s outing on Wednesday. “Velocity was a little bit down today. Last outing of a long season that started at the WBC and felt that he competed incredibly well today.

“He’s just kind of the person he’s been, just figure out a way to get it done even if it doesn’t feel your best. So [I’m] proud of him, proud of the season he’s had. He’s got a lot to hang his hat on right now and I know it won’t take long for him to get back to work and get going.”

As for whether or not McLean did enough to take home the NL Rookie of the Year honors in what has become a solid class that includes teammate Carson Benge, Green isn’t so sure his right-hander will be in the conversation.

Nevertheless, it doesn’t take hardware to know what kind of pitcher McLean is.

“He’s the best rookie pitcher in the National League and I think that’s pretty obvious to everybody,” Green said.