Shohei Ohtani pitched one hitless inning Sunday in his second mound start for the Los Angeles Dodgers, striking out two and allowing just one baserunner on an error by Mookie Betts.

Ohtani threw 18 pitches against the Washington Nationals at Chavez Ravine, recording 12 strikes with one wild pitch. After leadoff hitter CJ Abrams grounded out, Betts dropped James Wood’s popup in the sun, but Ohtani struck out Luis García Jr. and Nathaniel Lowe to end it.

Ohtani then struck out on seven pitches as the Dodgers’ leadoff hitter against Washington’s Michael Soroka in the bottom half of the first.

Ben Casparius replaced Ohtani in the second inning for the Dodgers, who likely saw what they hoped to see from their two-way superstar.

Ohtani’s fastball topped out at 98.8 mph after hitting 100 in his first outing, and he finished both of his strikeouts with breaking balls.

Ohtani yielded two hits and a run while throwing 28 pitches in the first inning Monday against San Diego in his first mound outing since 2023.

Before Ohtani faced Washington, Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts said there’s no firm timeline for the right-hander to extend his starts to full length.

Scherzer to return from IL, start on Wednesday

Three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer is expected to be activated from the 60-day injured list to start for Toronto at Cleveland on Wednesday, manager John Schneider said after the Blue Jays’ 4-2 loss to the White Sox.

Scherzer was declared ready to return after throwing between 30 and 40 pitches in a bullpen session Sunday morning.

At Columbus last Wednesday, Scherzer gave up two runs, struck out four and walked none over 4 1/3 innings in his second rehab start for Triple-A Buffalo.

The previous Friday, Scherzer struck out eight in 4 1/3 scoreless innings for the Bisons in a home start against Worcester.

The 40-year-old Scherzer signed a one-year, $15.5 million deal with the Blue Jays in February. He left his Toronto debut against Baltimore on March 29 after three innings because of soreness in his right lat muscle. The next day, Toronto put Scherzer on the injured list because of inflammation in his thumb.

Mets send struggling Alvarez to Syracuse

Scuffling catcher Francisco Alvarez was demoted to Triple-A Syracuse by the New York Mets.

Luis Torrens will replace Alvarez as New York’s primary catcher.

The move comes after Alvarez went 2 for 5 with a 452-foot home run late in Saturday night’s 11-4 victory over Philadelphia, which snapped a seven-game losing streak for the Mets. But he is batting only .236 with three homers, three doubles, 11 RBIs and a .652 OPS in 35 games this year.

Alvarez was activated April 25 after beginning the season on the injured list with a hamate fracture in his left hand, and he missed two games this month while on the paternity list.

The 23-year-old Alvarez, once rated baseball’s best minor league prospect, had 25 homers and 63 RBIs with a .721 OPS as a rookie in 2023.