Ohtani will pitch for Dodgers against Nationals on Sunday

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Shohei Ohtani will next pitch for the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday against the Washington Nationals. The two-way superstar made his mound debut for the Dodgers on Monday against the San Diego Padres, throwing one inning and allowing one run and two hits. He also batted leadoff as the designated hitter and had two hits. Ohtani faced Padres sluggers Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado in his 28-pitch outing. The Dodgers conclude their four-game series with San Diego on Thursday, looking for a sweep and their sixth straight victory overall. Ohtani underwent Tommy John surgery after the 2023 season while with the Los Angeles Angels and didn't pitch all of the 2024 season after which he signed a $700 million, 10-year deal with the Dodgers. Dodgers set franchise attendance recordThe Los Angeles Dodgers have surpassed 2 million in attendance in just 40 games this season. The defending World Series champions have had 2,026,238 through the gates so far. The team said Wednesday that it's the fastest they've reached that mark in franchise history. Last season, it took 42 games and in 2019, when the Dodgers set their all-time season attendance mark of 3,974,309, it took 43 games. The Dodgers have made 12 consecutive postseason appearances since 2013, winning World Series titles in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season and last year. They lost back-to-back World Series appearances in 2017 and 2018.