Mookie Betts homered and drove in three runs in his return from a broken left hand, while Shohei Ohtani also hit a home run, leading the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 5-2 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday night.
Clayton Kershaw struck out six batters and allowed one run over 5 2/3 innings to get his first win of the season. The Dodgers won the first game of a four-game series between National League division leaders.
Los Angeles (70-49) is now tied with the Baltimore Orioles and Cleveland Guardians for the best record in the majors.
“The biggest thing for us is we’re getting some guys back,” Kershaw said. “We’re getting our lineup the way we want it to. We’re getting some guys starter-wise, reliever-wise, everything.
We’re having our team look like what we want our team to look like. I think you’ll see us kind of start to take off here pretty soon.”
The Dodgers activated Betts from the injured list earlier in the day, and he played right field and batted second, with Ohtani leading off. Betts had been playing shortstop and leading off this year before injuring his hand on June 16 when he was hit by a 98 mph fastball from Kansas City’s Dan Altavilla.
In his first at-bat of the game, Betts struck out swinging at a 2-2 slider from Freddy Peralta. However, two innings later, Betts hit a 2-1 fastball over the left-field wall for a home run, giving the Dodgers a 2-0 lead. Betts also added a two-out RBI single off Bryan Hudson in the seventh inning.
“I know Mookie was happy to get back and help his teammates,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “Obviously, it’s a lot more fun writing his name in the lineup.”
Ohtani hit a 424-foot home run to left-center on a 3-0 fastball from Peralta in the fifth inning for his 36th homer. Ohtani entered Monday tied with Atlanta’s Marcell Ozuna for the National League lead in home runs.
It was the first time in his career that Ohtani homered on a 3-0 pitch.
“Just being aggressive overall throughout the at-bat was important for me,” Ohtani said through a translator. “But also, recognizing that Mookie, Freddie (Freeman) and Teo (Teoscar Hernández) were behind me. I think being aggressive, even on a 3-0 count, would be smart.”
