Shohei Ohtani hit his first home run for the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday, scoring his new team’s decisive final run with a seventh-inning solo shot in a 5-4 win over the San Francisco Giants.
Ohtani belted Taylor Rogers’ 3-1 sinker over the right-center field fence with two outs at Dodger Stadium. The shot in his ninth game as a Dodger ended his longest home run drought at the start of a season in his seven-year MLB career.
The 29-year-old, who joined the Dodgers on a record 10-year, $700 million contract during the offseason, has moved within three home runs of tying Hideki Matsui’s Japanese career MLB home run record of 175.
Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers hits a solo home run, the season’s first, in the seventh inning of a baseball game against the San Francisco Giants at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on April 3, 2024. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
Ohtani became the first Japanese to win a home run title in the big leagues after leading the American League with 44 playing for the Los Angeles Angels last year.
Ohtani became MLB’s first two-time unanimous MVP in 2023 after also posting a 10-5 record and a 3.14 ERA as a pitcher.
He suffered an elbow injury in late August that will restrict him to just batting this season.
On Wednesday, Ohtani went 2-for-4 after he singled off Kyle Harrison to open the bottom of the third and scored on a Will Smith one-out double to give the Dodgers a 2-1 lead which would ultimately be converted into the team’s fourth straight win.
Seiya Suzuki of the Chicago Cubs hits a solo home run in the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Colorado Rockies at Wrigley Field in Chicago on April 3, 2024. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
In Chicago, Seiya Suzuki homered for the second straight game and recorded an MLB career-best four RBIs as the Chicago Cubs edged the Colorado Rockies 9-8 to earn a fourth win in a row.
Suzuki had a two-run single in the second before connecting on Jalen Beeks’ 2-1 four-seamer for a solo shot over the left-center field at Wrigley Field for a 5-0 lead.
He singled in the sixth before reaching on a fielder’s choice in the eighth as the Cubs scored the decisive ninth run.
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