After another dominant outing against Shohei Ohtani, Mets pitcher makes feelings clear on how he sees the Dodgers superstar

Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani is putting up MVP-calibre numbers this season but he was "just another hitter" for New York Mets starter David Peterson.

The left-handed ace struck out the reigning NL MVP three times in a dominant outing to help the Mets bounce back in the series with a 5-2 win. Peterson overpowered Shohei Ohtani in Saturday's showdown as the Japanese slugger went 0-for-4 in a rare quiet night.

Peterson pitched 7 2/3 innings in a solid start, allowing two earned runs over five hits with seven strikeouts. Following his game-winning performance, the Mets ace made a bold statement about the three-time MVP.

"He's just another hitter. One of nine in their lineup," Peterson said. "That's how I look at everybody. Obviously, he's a great player, and he's done what he's done in this game. They have a lot of great hitters over there."

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It wasn't the first time Peterson had kept the Dodgers superstar quiet as the Mets ace has conceded just two hits against Shohei Ohtani in his 11 career at-bats against the lefty hurler.

Mets manager praises ace for shutting down Shohei Ohtani

Shohei Ohtani, who has 17 home runs this season, the second most this season behind Kyle Schwarber and Aaron Judge, went hitless against David Peterson on Saturday as the Mets tied the series.

Following the game, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza hailed the ace for his "big boy" performance against a stacked Dodgers hitting lineup.

“[Peterson] knew the assignment, and that’s a big boy's performance right there,” Mendoza said. “He made Ohtani look human. Ohtani is a pretty impressive player. Before that last at-bat, I was going over potential scenarios with Gibby [bench coach John Gibbons]. Edwin Díaz was ready to go. It was not only a big-time performance on Ohtani, but overall.”

The replay of last year's NLCS showdown has lived up to the hype as both teams head into Sunday's series finale with everything to play for.

About the author

Chaitanya Prakash is an editor who covers US Sports at Sportskeeda. His first brush with sportswriting was in 2012 when the greatest football manager of all time, Sir Alex Ferguson, bid farewell to the beautiful game.

Although having started out professionally as a cricket writer in 2022, Chaitanya's curiosity and indiscriminate interest in all sports in general eventually introduced him to America's favorite pastime.

While Chaitanya's favorite player from the current crop is the dynamic Venezuelan Ronald Acuna Jr., his all-time favorite, however, is Pedro Martinez, for his self-belief and consistency. He also rates Jose Bautista's iconic bat flip in 2015 as his favorite moment in baseball history.

Chaitanya specializes in reporting on technical aspects of the game or analyzing patterns behind specific plays. He also likes pondering over players' self-assessments following the conclusion of a game as it helps him get an idea of how they think about the sport in general.

When not cheering for his favorites across sports, Chaitanya likes being transported to the past through a good war documentary or a historical documentary in general.

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Edited by Chaitanya Prakash