Shohei Ohtani fans Trout with 101 mph fastball and triples, but the star can't stop Dodgers' skid

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Shohei Ohtani racked up seven strikeouts and pitched into the fifth inning. He tripled, scored and reached base twice at the plate.

The two-way superstar still couldn't stop his team from falling deeper into a losing streak in Anaheim.

Sound familiar? Angels fans know this melancholy story all too well — and now Dodgers fans have experienced it, too.

Ohtani stepped back in time in more ways than one when he returned to the Angel Stadium mound Wednesday night for the first time since he switched teams in Los Angeles' crosstown rivalry.

For six seasons, the three-time MVP couldn't make the Angels into winners with his unprecedented talents. This summer, his defending champion Dodgers are in an increasingly ugly slump — and Ohtani couldn't save them Wednesday, neither on the hill nor at the plate.

Ohtani tripled and scored the Dodgers' first run, and he eventually left his longest start of the season with a 5-4 lead. The Angels still rallied for a 6-5 victory, sweeping the six-game Freeway Series and sending the Dodgers to their fourth consecutive loss overall.

The Dodgers also fell a game behind the Padres in the NL West standings with streaking San Diego visiting Dodger Stadium on Friday night. The Dodgers led the division by nine games on July 3, and they've gone 12-21 since.

“Obviously, it doesn’t feel good to fall into second place and to lose a lot of these games,” Ohtani said through his interpreter. “We’re doing everything in our power, having meetings, doing everything that we can to try to right the ship. We just have to do a better job.”

Ohtani pitched 4 1/3 innings of five-hit, four-run ball against the Angels. He gave up up a homer to Taylor Ward and a two-run double to Zach Neto, but he also fanned Mike Trout twice, getting his friend and fellow MVP the second time with his fastest pitch of the night — a 101 mph fastball in the fourth.

But the Angels got three straight hits to chase him, capped by Neto's double.

“I just couldn’t finish off hitters in the fifth,” Ohtani said. “They did a good job putting balls in play, and that’s what happens. Next time I’ve got to do a better job.”

The Dodgers' beleaguered bullpen again failed while missing five high-leverage arms on the injured list, but their expensive lineup also didn't score after the fourth inning.

Logan O'Hoppe delivered a bases-loaded, two-run single in the eighth, and longtime Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen coolly pitched the ninth. Ohtani struck out in his final two at-bats.

“Doesn’t feel good to lose close games,” Ohtani said. “It’s tough mentally, but we have an off day tomorrow, so the plan is to regroup, refresh and get ready for the weekend.”

Ohtani is still beloved in Anaheim by fans who mostly couldn't blame him for leaving a team that could never assemble a winning lineup around him and Trout during six consecutive losing seasons.

The three-time MVP — two of those trophies claimed with the Angels — has received cheers whenever he returns to the Big A, although that's also because much of the crowd wears Dodger Blue for these Freeway Series rivalry games.

All fans were locked in on the main event in this showdown.

After Trout and Ohtani acknowledged each other with slight nods and smirks, Ohtani finished his 1-2-3 first inning by throwing five straight fastballs to Trout before striking him out looking with a sweeper.

They hadn’t faced each other since Ohtani famously struck out Trout in Tokyo — with the same pitch — to end the 2023 World Baseball Classic.

Ohtani was even meaner to Trout in their second meeting, starting him out with a 73 mph curve before eventually fanning him with that blazing fastball in the low outside corner.

Outside of Trout, Ohtani saw plenty of familiar faces Wednesday: Seven of the nine hitters in the Angels' starting lineup played with him in Anaheim.

Ohtani hadn't been on the mound at the Big A since Aug. 23, 2023, when he abruptly left a start against Cincinnati in the second inning with elbow pain later revealed to be a torn ligament. The resulting surgery kept him off the mound entirely in 2024 after he signed his 10-year, $700 million contract with the Dodgers.

Ohtani returned to pitching two months ago, and the Dodgers have gradually built up his innings while maintaining his everyday role as their DH and leadoff hitter.

Before his mound return, Ohtani homered in each of the first two games of this series — although he also lined into a triple play Tuesday.

Ohtani began Wednesday's game by taking Kyle Hendricks to deep right for a triple, and he quickly scored on Mookie Betts’ single.

Ward blasted a 97-mph fastball from Ohtani to right for his 29th homer, just the second allowed by Ohtani this season.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB

Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Shohei Ohtani wipes his face after the third inning during of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels, Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani, right, is hit with seeds after hitting a solo home run during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels, Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani, right, hits a solo home run as Los Angeles Angels catcher Logan O'Hoppe watches during the ninth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Shohei Ohtani throws to the plate during the third inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels, Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Shohei Ohtani throws to the plate during the third inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels, Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — The spread of famine has been averted in Gaza yet the situation remains critical with the entire strip still facing starvation, the world's leading authority on food crises said Friday.

The new report by The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC, comes months after the group said famine was occurring in Gaza City and likely to spread across the territory without a ceasefire and an end to humanitarian aid restrictions.

There were “notable improvements” in food security and nutrition following an October ceasefire and no famine has been detected, the report said. Still, the IPC warned the situation remains “highly fragile” and the entire Gaza Strip is in danger of starvation with nearly 2,000 people facing catastrophic levels of hunger through April.

In the worst-case scenario, including renewed conflict and a halt of aid, the whole strip is at risk of famine. Needs remain immense and sustained, expanded and unhindered aid is required, the IPC said.

The Israeli military agency in charge of coordinating aid to Gaza, known as COGAT, said Friday it strongly rejected the findings.

The agency adheres to the ceasefire and allows the agreed amount of aid to reach the strip, COGAT said, noting the aid quantities “significantly exceed the nutritional requirements of the population” in Gaza according to accepted international methodologies, including the United Nations.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry said Friday it also rejects the findings, saying the IPC’s report doesn’t reflect reality in Gaza and more than the required amount of aid was reaching the strip. The ministry said the IPC ignores the vast volume of aid entering Gaza because the group relies primarily on data related to United Nations trucks, which account for only 20% of all aid trucks.

The IPC said the report totals include commercial and U.N. trucks and its information is based on U.N. and COGAT data.

Israel’s government has rejected the IPC's past findings, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calling the previous report an “outright lie.”

The report's findings come as the shaky U.S.-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas reaches a pivotal point as Phase 1 nears completion, with the remains of one hostage still in Gaza. The more challenging second phase has yet to be implemented and both sides have accused the other of violating the truce.

The IPC in August confirmed the grim milestone of famine for the first time in the Middle East and warned it could spread south to Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis. More than half a million people in Gaza, about a quarter of its population, faced catastrophic levels of hunger, with many at risk of dying from malnutrition-related causes, the August report said.

Friday's report said the spread of famine had been offset by a significant reduction in conflict, a proposed peace plan and improved access for humanitarian and commercial food deliveries.

There is more food on the ground and people now have two meals daily, up from one meal each day in July. That situation “is clearly a reversal of what had been one of the most dire situations where we were during the summer," Antoine Renard, the World Food Program’s director for the Palestinian territories, told U.N. reporters in a video briefing from Gaza City Thursday.

Food access has “significantly improved,” he said, warning that the greatest challenge now is adequate shelter for Palestinians, many of whom are soaked and living in water-logged tents. Aid groups say nearly 1.3 million Palestinians need emergency shelter as winter sets in.

Displacement is one of the key drivers behind the food insecurity, with more than 70% of Gaza's population living in makeshift shelters and relying on assistance. Other factors such as poor hygiene and sanitation as well as restricted access to food are also exacerbating the hunger crisis, the IPC said.

While humanitarian access has improved compared with previous analysis periods, that access fluctuates daily and is limited and uneven across the strip, the IPC said.

To prevent further loss of life, expanded humanitarian assistance including food, fuel, shelter and healthcare is urgently needed, according to the group's experts, who warned that over the next 12 months more than 100,000 children between the ages of 6 months and 5 years are expected to suffer from acute malnutrition and require treatment.

Figures recently released by Israel’s military suggest it has not met the ceasefire stipulation of allowing 600 trucks of aid into Gaza each day, though Israel disputes that finding. American officials with the U.S.-led center coordinating aid shipments into Gaza also say deliveries have reached the agreed levels.

Aid groups say despite increase of assistance, aid is still not reaching everyone in need after suffering two years of war.

“This is not a debate about truck numbers or calories on paper, it’s about whether people can actually access food, clean water, shelter and health care safely and consistently. Right now, they cannot,” said Bushra Khalidi, Oxfam’s policy lead for Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory.

People must be able to rebuild their homes, grow food and recover and the conditions for that are still being denied, she said.

Even with more products in the markets Palestinians say they can't afford it. “There is food and meat, but no one has money," said Hany al-Shamali, who was displaced from Gaza City.

“How can we live?”

Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.

FILE - Palestinian women struggle to receive donated food at a community kitchen in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana, File)