World Series: Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani headed for MRI after partially dislocating left shoulder in Game 2 vs. Yankees

LOS ANGELES — Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani partially dislocated his left shoulder in a 4-2 win over the Yankees on Saturday night, thrusting into uncertainty his availability for the rest of the World Series.

Ohtani will get an MRI on Sunday, Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts said. He noted that although initial signs — strength, range of motion — were “certainly a positive,” the Dodgers won’t know for sure until the tests come back.

“We're encouraged,” Roberts said. “But obviously I can't speculate because we don't [have] the scans yet.”

Roberts announced the injury as “a little” shoulder subluxation, which is a partial dislocation. He said he didn’t know if Ohtani had dealt with this issue before. That it is his left shoulder — the lefthanded hitter's back shoulder  — is preferred over his right shoulder, but the Dodgers won’t know if that matters until they know the severity.

The Dodgers own a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven Fall Classic, which will resume Monday night at Yankee Stadium. By then, they will know more about the health of their best player. As they packed up for an overnight flight to New York, however, Ohtani’s status put a damper on two closely contested games, both of which came down to the final at-bat.

“Not only the dugout, but the whole stadium went silent,” Dodgers outfielder Teoscar Hernandez said of the moment Ohtani went down. “You know how big Shohei is for this team. Hopefully he's OK and the day off [Sunday] will help him get back on the field Monday.”

Ohtani got hurt when he tried to steal second base at the end of the seventh inning — a decision he was free to make on his own, Roberts said, after  swiping 59 bags in the regular season.

Yankees catcher Austin Wells threw him out, with Ohtani landing awkwardly on his left hand as he slid. He remained on the ground in obvious pain, holding his left arm, and eventually walked off the field with Roberts and an athletic trainer. His turn in the lineup didn’t come around again, so the Dodgers never had to replace the designated hitter.

Ohtani did not speak to reporters.

“He's a pretty astute baserunner,” Roberts said. “With two outs right there, to try to tack on in a World Series game, it was the right play. Just baseball happens.”

If Ohtani misses the rest of the World Series, how prepared are the Dodgers to handle that?

“I'm not there,” Roberts said. “I'm expecting him to be there. I'm expecting him to be in the lineup.”

By Tim Healey

timothy.healey@newsday.com@timbhealey

Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.