Teoscar Hernández hit a three-run homer in the third inning to give the Dodgers the lead, and Shohei Ohtani hit a home run to start the game on his second bobblehead night, as the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Baltimore Orioles 6-4 on Wednesday night.
Ohtani also singled and scored in the third inning, and scored again in the fifth, setting a career-high with 104 runs this season, surpassing his previous best of 103 set in 2021 with the Los Angeles Angels.
“Any big moment he seems to rise to the occasion,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.
Ohtani hit his 42nd home run off Corbin Burnes (12-7) and stole his 41st and 42nd bases, aiming to be the first major leaguer to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in a season.
He has stolen 14 bases in August, the most by a Dodger in a month since manager Roberts had 15 in March and April in 2004.
“We knew going into the game this was going to be a tough lineup and a tough pitcher to face,” Ohtani said through an interpreter. “We collectively did very well against him.”
Ohtani and his beloved dog Decoy, who are featured together on the bobblehead, handled the ceremonial first pitch in front of a sold-out crowd of 53,290. At Ohtani’s signal at home plate, Decoy carried the ball from the mound to the plate, where he and Ohtani shared a high five.
Trailing 3-1, the Dodgers came back to score four runs and take a 5-3 lead in the third inning. Mookie Betts had an RBI single, and Hernández hit his 28th home run with two outs.
Baltimore made it 5-4 on Ryan O’Hearn’s RBI double into the right-field corner, which chased Dodgers starter Walker Buehler in the fifth inning.
“I thought we had some good ABs early, didn’t do much from the middle of the game on offensively, but yeah, wasn’t our cleanest game,” Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said.
