Shohei Ohtani had a solo home run and an RBI double among his three hits, and the NL West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the rival San Francisco Giants 10-2 on Tuesday night.
Ohtani’s 12th homer was part of a four-run fourth inning, which ended with Gavin Lux’s RBI triple. Teoscar Hernández doubled to bring in a run, and Max Muncy hit a sacrifice fly in the inning, supporting Gavin Stone (4-1). Later on, Hernández hit a two-run triple.
Ohtani’s 446-foot home run landed above the brick facade in right-center, marking the longest home run at Oracle Park in almost two years — since Christian Walker’s 461-foot drive against Alex Cobb on Aug. 15, 2022.
Manager Dave Roberts commented on the feat, saying, “You don’t see many guys hitting the ball that far to that part of the ballpark. Fortunately, I played with one here.” He was referring to home run king Barry Bonds. “That was pretty impressive. … That’s Barry territory,” Roberts added.
Ohtani thought he might hit the water of McCovey Cove, similar to what Bonds used to do. “I thought I hit one today,” Ohtani said, “but I was disappointed it didn’t go over.”
Will Smith added an RBI single in the fifth inning, extending the Dodgers’ winning streak to six games against the Giants. Los Angeles has won 14 of their last 17 games at Oracle and 10 of their last 12 games against the Giants since being swept at home from June 16-18, 2023.
Heliot Ramos hit an RBI single in the sixth for the Giants, but the Dodgers extended their lead in the seventh when Mookie Betts tripled and scored on Ohtani’s double.
Ohtani’s new teammates with the Dodgers are impressed with his strong start at the plate. “This is the first year where he’s really got to focus on hitting, so it’ll be a lot of fun to watch,” Stone said. Miguel Rojas added an RBI double in the ninth inning for the Dodgers.
