The first inning on Sunday afternoon will feel at least as significant as the last one when the Los Angeles Dodgers and visiting Washington Nationals play the deciding contest of a three-game series.

Shohei Ohtani will make his second start on the mound in a Dodgers uniform. He has the potential of working two innings after the right-hander was limited to one frame Monday in his first pitching appearance in nearly two years.

After a slow and methodical rehab from Tommy John revision surgery, Ohtani (0-0, 9.00 ERA) is back in his two-way element. It was a bumpy ride against the San Diego Padres on Monday when he needed 28 pitches to record three outs, giving up one run on two hits.

“Definitely a little bit more (nervous) than when I was solely a position player,” Ohtani said through an interpreter.

Ohtani has one career start against the Nationals, allowing one hit over seven scoreless innings to earn a win in 2023 as a member of the Los Angeles Angels.

The Dodgers will try to rebound from a 7-3 loss Saturday to the Nationals, who won for just the second time in 14 games. The Dodgers’ MVP trio at the top of the order in Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman went a combined 1-for-12 with six strikeouts.

“It’s been a little bit of a grind for us the last few weeks, but I think we all believe in ourselves,” said Freeman, who offered that he no longer is feeling the effects of earlier ankle and quad injuries. “It’s obviously a little frustrating, but we’ll get going.”

The Nationals will counter on Sunday with right-hander Michael Soroka (3-5, 5.06 ERA), who will make his first career appearance in Los Angeles. Soroka has a 2.79 ERA in two career starts against the Dodgers.

Soroka enters on a two-start losing streak after he gave up three runs on five hits over six innings at home in a 10-6 loss to the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday. He tied a career high with nine strikeouts.

Soroka will try to follow the lead of teammate Jake Irvin, who gave up two runs on six hits with seven strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings against Los Angeles on Saturday.

The Nationals won the game game behind five home runs, including two from Nathaniel Lowe, who now has 101 for his career. James Wood hit a 451-foot home run, while CJ Abrams and Luis Garcia Jr. also went deep.

Wood’s homer was his third in three games and fourth in his last five against the Dodgers. He has a team-best 21 this season. Abrams is now 17-for-48 (.354) in 12 games following a recent downturn.

“Those guys are good young players, playing really well, and to watch them hit like that is special,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said of Wood and Abrams. “I always talk about the core of what we’re trying to do here, and when they do the things they can do, it uplifts our team.”

Lowe delivered his first multi-homer game of the season and the sixth of his career.

“I put him in the middle of the lineup because I know he can drive in runs for us,” Martinez said of Lowe, whose 47 RBIs are second on the team to Wood’s 57. “He tends to really work good at-bats, so it was a good day for him.”

–Field Level Media