As the Los Angeles Dodgers celebrated their World Series victory, a potentially catastrophic loss left Dodger Stadium. Out within minutes of the final Saturday’s 4–2 win over the New York Yankees in Game 2, Shohei Ohtani, dressed in street clothes and with wet hair, presumably from a shower, with an impassive face, stepped into the elevator to the parking lot. He did not appear to be wearing a brace or cast on his left shoulder had a subluxation—a partial dislocation—on a failed stolen base attempt in the seventh inning.

As he left, I asked him how his shoulder felt. He didn’t respond. The elevator doors closed.

Manager Dave Roberts said the team would know more about Ohtani’s status after the superstar DH underwent an MRI, but that initial physical tests did not appear to indicate an injury that would end his World Series.

“The strength was great, the range of motion good,” Roberts said. “So we are encouraged. But of course I can’t speculate about that, because we don’t have the scans yet. So once we have the scans, we will know more.” Roberts added that, at least in theory, a left shoulder injury for a left-handed hitter is preferable to a right shoulder injury.

Through two games, the Dodgers have looked like the clearly superior team: their starting pitchers have lasted longer, their relievers have given up fewer runs, their offense has scored more runs and they’ve played cleaner baseball. But if Ohtani does indeed miss time, the series’ momentum could turn around.

In the seventh, when Ohtani slid to second base and did not immediately get up, Dodgers fielder Teoscar Hernández said, “Not only the dugout, but the entire stadium was in silence.”

They understood what was at stake: Ohtani is probably the most talented player in the history of the sport. He will almost certainly win his third Most Valuable Player award next month, and he had an OPS of 1.185 in the National League Championship Series.

The Yankees have kept him in check for the most part this series, holding him to one hit in Game 1 (although it was a big one – a one-out double, on which he took third on an error and then scored the tying run on a sacrifice fly.) and the walk in Game 2 that led to the ill-fated stolen base attempt. But his very presence in the lineup affects the way the Yankees approach the Dodgers: With Game 1 on the line, New York manager Aaron Boone went to lefty starter Nestor Cortés, who had not pitched in more than a month, because he didn’t like lefty reliever Tim Hill’s matchup against Ohtani. Ohtani flew out, but Freddie Freeman hit one walk-off grand slam.

The series resumes Monday in New York. Hernández said he hoped Sunday’s day off would give Ohtani time to heal. Roberts declined to offer platitudes about how the team might respond if Ohtani can’t play.

“I’m not here,” Roberts said. ‘I expect him to be there. I expect him to be in the lineup.”