Shohei Ohtani Hits First Home Run as a Dodger in 5–4 Win Over Giants
Shohei Ohtani #17 of the Los Angeles Dodgers hits a solo home run during the seventh inning against the San Francisco Giants at Dodger Stadium on April 3, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. The home run is Ohtani's first as a Dodger.
(Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
The count was at 3-1—bottom of the seventh—in a lefty-on-lefty battle between Shohei Ohtani and San Francisco Giants reliever Taylor Rogers. On the next pitch, the two-way star crushed a sinker on the upper outside corner to deep right field, spurring the crowd to erupt to celebrate his first home run as a Dodger.
“Honestly, very relieved that I was able to hit my first homer,” Ohtani said through interpreter Will Ireton. “It’s been a while, and honestly, my swing hasn’t been great. So, overall, very relieved.”
Ohtani's highly anticipated arrival in Los Angeles follows the signing of a record-breaking 10-year, $700 million contract, which solidifies his position with the richest deal in MLB history and puts him among the world's highest-paid athletes.
The crack of the bat hitting the 430-foot no-doubter echoed throughout the stadium. As he reached home plate, he exchanged low-fives with the next hitter, Freddie Freeman, and catcher Will Smith. On his way back to the dugout, offseason addition outfielder Teoscar Hernandez greeted him with a face full of sunflower seeds in celebration of his first dinger in Dodger blue.
In exchange for the home run ball, Shohei Ohtani gave the Dodgers fan who caught it a signed ball, bat and two hats
“Obviously, it’s a very special ball,” Ohtani said. “A lot of feelings toward it. I’m very grateful that it’s back.”
The two-time MVP finished 2-for-4 with two hits, two runs scored, an RBI, along with his first homer.
Starting pitcher Tyler Glasnow earned his second win of the season in L.A.’s seventh win (7–2) on Wednesday. He started off strong by retiring 15 of his first 18 batters before giving up two runs in the sixth inning but was able to finish the inning without surrendering the lead as the game was close at 4–3. In six innings pitched, Glasnow struck out seven batters and gave up four hits, three runs, and a home run.
Ohtani’s homer (in the sixth) gave the Dodgers great insurance, as the Giants would only score one run for the rest of the ballgame.
Joe Kelly pitched the seventh and Daniel Hudson the eighth, allowing a homer to Giants Jorge Soler. Then, closer Dinelson Lamet earned his first professional save, striking out the first two batters before retiring the final hitter on a groundout in the ninth.
Infielder Miguel Rojas was the only other player to homer for L.A. in the Dodgers 5-4 win over the Giants, who have now won their fourth straight and six of their last seven games.
“Even right now with some guys that are kind of scuffling and trying to find their way with their swing, we’re still putting up five runs a game,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “I think it’s big for our starting pitching and it’s big just for morale knowing that we can score early, we can score late, and we’ve seen some good arms and we’re still finding ways to put up some crooked numbers, which is huge.”
The Dodgers will start their next series on the road this Friday at 11:20 a.m. PDT against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field.
Bobby Miller will take the mound for his second game of the season. He had 11 K’s in his first start of the season in the Dodgers' 6-3 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on March 29.
The Cubs will have starting pitcher Kyle Hendricks on the hill, who is 0–1 and has an ERA of 12.27 in that one game pitched.
