LOS ANGELES — Japanese superstar Shohei Ohtani threw the fastest pitch of his career yesterday, firing a 101.7mph fastball in the first inning of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 9-5 loss to the Royals in Kansas City.

Ohtani pitched two innings for the first time since he returned to the mound this month after a near two-year absence in the wake of elbow surgery.

With one out in the first he gave up a line drive single to Bobby Witt Jr then walked Maikel Garcia.

Ohtani then went up two strikes against Vinnie Pasquantino — on a 99.2 mph fastball and a 100.2 mph fastball, Pasquantino finally grounding into a double play off Ohtani’s blistering 101.7 mph four-seam fastball — the fastest pitch by a Dodgers hurler this year.