logo
Ohtani reaches 30 homers for 5th straight season as Yamamoto and the Dodgers beat the White Sox 6-1

Ohtani reaches 30 homers for 5th straight season as Yamamoto and the Dodgers beat the White Sox 6-1

The Mainichi19 hours ago
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Shohei Ohtani reached 30 homers for the fifth straight season, hitting a fourth-inning drive after fouling a pitch off the plate umpire, and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Chicago White Sox 6-1 on Tuesday night.
Ohtani fouled the ball off Alan Porter's right knee in the fourth. Ohtani checked on the umpire and stood by watching until Parker got up under his own power. The three-time MVP then hit a 408-foot shot to center, snapping an 0-for-6 skid and extending the lead to 6-1.
Ohtani walked over and checked on Porter again during the seventh-inning stretch before leading off.
Los Angeles scored its most runs this season in support of Yoshinobu Yamamoto (8-6), staking the Japanese right-hander to a 4-0 lead in the first inning. The Dodgers won for the 13th time in 16 games and opened a season-high, eight-game NL West lead.
Every run in the game was scored with two outs.
Yamamoto allowed one run and three hits in seven innings, struck out eight and walked one.
White Sox rookie Shane Smith (3-6) got two quick outs in the first before walking Will Smith and Max Muncy back-to-back. Teoscar Hernandez followed with a RBI single, Andy Pages hit a run-scoring double and Michael Conforto a two-run single.
Chicago's lone run came on Lenyn Sosa's RBI single in the third.
Key moment
Ohtani joined Seattle's Cal Raleigh (33) and Aaron Judge of the Yankees (30) as players with at least 30 homers by the All-Star break.
Key stat
The Dodgers had been averaging just 2 1/2 runs of support for Yamamoto.
Up next
White Sox RHP Sean Burke (4-7, 4.22 ERA) makes his first career start against the Dodgers on Wednesday. Los Angeles LHP Clayton Kershaw (4-0, 3.03) is three strikeouts from reaching 3,000 in his 18-year career.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Clayton Kershaw eyes 3,000th strikeout milestone in front of home fans at Dodger Stadium
Clayton Kershaw eyes 3,000th strikeout milestone in front of home fans at Dodger Stadium

Japan Today

time9 hours ago

  • Japan Today

Clayton Kershaw eyes 3,000th strikeout milestone in front of home fans at Dodger Stadium

Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw works against the Colorado Rockies in the first inning of a baseball game Thursday, June 26, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) baseball By BETH HARRIS Clayton Kershaw takes the mound for the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday night needing three strikeouts to reach 3,000 for the only team he's played for during his 18-year career. The three-time Cy Young Award winner is expected to achieve the milestone in front of his home fans at Dodger Stadium — where he has 1,627 Ks — when he faces the Chicago White Sox. Kershaw will become the 20th pitcher in major league history to reach the vaunted mark. He'll join Justin Verlander of San Francisco (3,468) and Max Scherzer of Toronto (3,412) as the only active pitchers with that many. Kershaw will be just the fourth left-hander in the club. Teammate Freddie Freeman has been reminding Kershaw daily how many Ks he needs to reach the milestone even as Kershaw remains focused on trying to give the team chances to win. The White Sox have the eighth-most strikeouts in baseball with 707, and average about nine per game. Kershaw is making history at a time when he's provided much-needed stability for the Dodgers' pitching staff, which has been decimated by injuries this season. The NL West-leading Dodgers have won his past five starts. He is 4-0 with a 3.03 ERA going into his ninth start — two more than he made in an injury-shortened 2024 season — of the year. Kershaw faces the White Sox seeking his 217th career victory, which would break a tie with Scherzer for second among active players behind Verlander's 262. The 37-year-old left-hander struggled in his first start of the season when he allowed five runs over four innings in his first start after returning from knee and foot surgeries last offseason. Since then, he has held opposing batters to a .222 average. Age and less dominant stuff has changed the way Kershaw does his job. He knows his consistency isn't the same but with the depth of the team's staff, he doesn't need to be perfect every outing. Kershaw no longer overpowers hitters the way he did during the height of his career, but he remains stubbornly determined and possesses a craftiness honed over 18 seasons as well as a slider that can still fool. In his prime from 2010 to 2015, he led the National League in ERA five times, in strikeouts three times and wins twice. Kershaw had one of the best seasons ever in 2014, when he finished with a 21-3 record, 1.77 ERA and 233 strikeouts to win both the Cy Young and Most Valuable Player in the National League. This season, the Texas-born Kershaw tied the franchise record for most seasons in Dodger blue, joining outfielder Zack Wheat and shortstop Bill Russell. Kershaw's wife, Ellen, and their children Cali, Charley, Cooper and Chance will be on hand. The couple recently announced she is expecting their fifth child. © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

Stadium where Babe Ruth played in Tokyo is at center of disputed park redevelopment plan
Stadium where Babe Ruth played in Tokyo is at center of disputed park redevelopment plan

Japan Today

time9 hours ago

  • Japan Today

Stadium where Babe Ruth played in Tokyo is at center of disputed park redevelopment plan

A general view of the Jingu stadium in Tokyo on Wednesday By STEPHEN WADE Plans to demolish a historic baseball stadium where Babe Ruth played and an adjacent rugby venue are at the heart of a disputed park redevelopment in Tokyo that critics say trades history and greenery for commercial space. The plan to remake the Jingu Gaien park area was approved 2 1/2 years ago by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. Work clearing land has begun but opponents are still trying to stop the project, which could take a decade to complete. A coalition on Wednesday presented an open letter to Toshiko Abe, the minister of education, culture, sports, science and technology, asking the project be reassessed. It's signed by 368 experts — urban planners, architects and environmental scientists — and 1,167 others. The park area was established a century ago through public donations to honor the Meiji Emperor. At the heart of the issue is citizens' control of public space, and a potential conflict of interest with private developers and politicians deciding how valuable parcels are used. The stadium oozes history and critics say building skyscrapers in the park space would never be allowed in Central Park in New York or Hyde Park in London. Ruth and Lou Gehrig played at the stadium on a 1934 barnstorming tour. Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami was inspired to write his first novel while drinking beer and watching a game there in 1978. The stadium is still home to the Yakult Swallows baseball team and hosted a concert this week. Plans call for developers to build a pair of 200-meter (650-feet) towers and a smaller tower. The stadiums are to be rebuilt in the reconfigured space with the baseball stadium going where the rugby stadium now stands. The open letter is critical of so-called private finance schemes that give private developers access to park space. Hibiya Park is Tokyo's oldest public park, another example of this approach. Opposition to the Jingu redevelopment has included novelist Murakami, a conservancy group, and botanists and environmentalists who argue the sprawling project threatens 100-year-old gingko trees that grace the area's main avenue. A global conservancy body ICOMOS, which works with the United Nations body UNESCO, has said the development will lead to 'irreversible destruction of cultural heritage' with trees and green space being lost. Opposition groups are pitted against powerful real-estate developer Mitsui Fudosan, the Shinto religious body, and Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike. 'The problem is that many Japanese citizens are not so much interested in democratically regulating their own city and are used to demolishing buildings,' Kohei Saito, a Japanese political economist at Tokyo University, wrote to The Associated Press. He said 'companies with political power try to maximize their short-term profits without consideration of Tokyo's attractiveness (history, culture), inhabitants' well-being and future generations.' Zoning changes to allow high-rise buildings in the area were made around 2013 by the Tokyo government when the city won the bid for the 2020 Olympics. Many of those changes permitted building the neighboring National Stadium but also applied to the park area. 'The process of rezoning the area lacked transparency and democratic procedure and constitutes an illegal abuse of the governor's discretion in urban planning decisions,' the open letter said. The Jingu district was considered 'common property' until after World War II when the government sold it to Shinto under a promise it would remain a common space. The national government comes into play because the rugby venue is the property of the Japan Sport Council, a national government affiliated body. The rugby venue represents about 30% of the Jingu Gaien area. Opponents hope the timing later this month of a national election might aid their cause with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba heading a minority government. Former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori has ties to the rugby venue. In addition to serving two decades ago as prime minister, he is the former president of the Japan Rugby Football Union and also served as the president of the 2020 Olympic organizing committee until he was forced to resign after making sexist comments about women. Opened in 1926, developers argue the baseball stadium is too old to save. However, Fenway Park in Boston dates from 1912 and Wrigley Field in Chicago from 1914. Both have been refurbished and are among the most venerated in the United States. Meiji Kinenkan, a historic reception hall in Jingu Gaien, dates from 1881 and is still widely used with no calls for its demolition. Mitsui Fudosan's headquarters building in Tokyo dates from 1929. Koshien Stadium, located near Osaka, was built in 1924 and has been in use since a refurbishment. The new rugby stadium would be an indoor venue with plastic grass, which players view as the least desirable surface for the sport. © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

Tennis: Junior Wimbledon champ Mochizuki gets 1st win at Grand Slam
Tennis: Junior Wimbledon champ Mochizuki gets 1st win at Grand Slam

The Mainichi

time18 hours ago

  • The Mainichi

Tennis: Junior Wimbledon champ Mochizuki gets 1st win at Grand Slam

LONDON (Kyodo) -- Japan's Shintaro Mochizuki won his first match at a Grand Slam on Tuesday after coming from behind to edge Giulio Zeppieri of Italy in five sets at Wimbledon. Mochizuki, the 2019 Wimbledon junior singles champion and first Japanese to win the title, prevailed 2-6, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(6), 7-5 in a 3-hour, 14-minute marathon in the men's singles first round. The match was suspended at the end of the fourth set on Monday due to the late-night curfew. The players held serve for a combined 11 games after the match's resumption, before 144th-ranked Mochizuki capitalized on the 351st-ranked Italian's double fault to earn two match points. He clinched the victory on the first by sending a forehand return down the line. "I was quite fatigued after playing four sets, and the suspension (on Monday) wasn't a negative thing," Mochizuki said. "The best thing was managing to grind out a win from a hard, difficult match, more than getting a win at a Grand Slam." His compatriot Yoshihito Nishioka, 82nd in the world, lost 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 to 21st-ranked Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store