LOS ANGELES >> 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 night, 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 missed all of the 2024 season after which he signed a $700 million, 10-year deal with the Dodgers.

Dodgers set franchise attendance record

The Dodgers surpassed 2 million in attendance in 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.

Royals top prospect Caglianone hits 2 HRs

Jac Caglianone went deep twice for his first two homers in the big leagues as the Kansas City Royals beat the Texas Rangers 4-1 on Thursday.

The 22-year-old prospect won lefty-lefty matchups both times a day after sitting out in the majors for the first time in part because of a left-handed starter for Texas.

Both of Caglianone’s homers led off innings. He pulled a 95.5 mph fastball from Jacob Latz into the Rangers bullpen in right-center field, the 387-foot shot giving the Royals a 3-0 lead in the second. The second was on the first pitch from Robert Garcia in the ninth, a 439-footer over that same bullpen.

Fan climbs netting at Wrigley Field

From villain, to superhero.

A fan was removed by security before returning to cheers on Thursday after he climbed Wrigley Field’s protective netting near first base to retrieve a bat that slipped through Sal Frelick’s grasp and became lodged there.

The Milwaukee outfielder’s bat got stuck about 10 feet up after a swinging strike in the top of the sixth.

The fan clambered up the screen and pulled the bat into the seating area before being removed by guards. He returned minutes later to cheers from the crowd of 41,078, the Cubs largest this season.