
Ohtani's big homer and Smith's 2 blasts help Dodgers end home woes with 5-2 win over Twins
baseball
By BETH HARRIS
Shohei Ohtani hit a go-ahead two-run homer in the bottom of the first after giving up a leadoff homer to fellow All-Star Byron Buxton, helping the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Minnesota Twins 5-2 on Monday night.
The NL West leaders snapped a six-game skid at home, their longest such streak at Dodger Stadium since September 2017. They were swept in three games by the Milwaukee Brewers over the weekend.
Buxton sent Ohtani's second pitch of the game halfway up the left field pavilion. After Mookie Betts walked, Ohtani answered with a 441-foot blast to center that put the Dodgers in front, 2-1. The two-way Japanese superstar has homered in three straight games.
Smith went deep twice off David Festa (3-4). Smith led off the fourth with a two-strike homer to center and followed with a 435-foot shot to left that made it 4-1.
Andy Pages added a solo shot off reliever Cole Sands.
Dustin May (6-6) took over from Ohtani, who allowed one run, four hits and struck out three in three innings. May gave up five hits in 4 2/3 innings, struck out four and walked three. Kirby Yates earned his third save.
Freddie Freeman was in the lineup a day after being hit by a pitch on his left wrist in Sunday's 6-5 loss to Milwaukee. He was 1 for 4 with a strikeout.
Minnesota shortstop Carlos Correa went 0 for 5, getting booed heavily in every at-bat by Dodgers fans still angry about the 2017 World Series, when Correa played for Houston. He was robbed of a potential game-tying homer by James Outman at the center field wall in the ninth.
Ohtani is the first pitcher to give up a homer and hit a homer in the first inning of the same game since Philadelphia's Randy Lerch in a 23-22 win over the Chicago Cubs on May 17, 1979.
Twins RHP Simeon Woods Richardson (5-4, 3.95 ERA) starts Tuesday against Dodgers RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto (8-7, 2.59).
© Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The Mainichi
7 hours ago
- The Mainichi
Baseball: Darvish roughed up by Cardinals, remains winless in 2025
ST. LOUIS, Missouri (Kyodo) -- San Diego Padres pitcher Yu Darvish remained winless through four starts this season after surrendering eight runs in 3-1/3 innings in a 9-7 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday. Darvish (0-3) gave up a pair of three-run homers, both in the second inning, among the eight hits he allowed at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. The veteran Japanese right-hander's ERA has ballooned to 9.18. The Cardinals turned a 2-1 deficit into a 7-2 lead on second-inning home runs by Brendan Donovan and Willson Contreras and never looked back. Darvish, who missed the first three-plus months of the season with right elbow inflammation, walked two and struck out three. The 38-year-old has won a total of 203 games in his professional career, 110 in Major League Baseball and 93 in Japan. In other action, Los Angeles Angels left-hander Yusei Kikuchi (4-7) gave up three runs in 4-2/3 innings in a 4-2 loss to the Seattle Mariners, the first team of his major league career.


Japan Today
14 hours ago
- Japan Today
Japan beats Turkey to reach Nations League women's semis
Japan captain Mayu Ishikawa (2nd from R) celebrates with teammates after winning a point against Turkey during their Nations League women's volleyball quarterfinal match in Lodz, Poland, on July 24, 2025. (Photo courtesy of Volleyball World)(Photo not for sale)(Kyodo) ==Kyodo volleyball Japan advanced to the Nations League women's volleyball semifinals by defeating Turkey three sets to two on Thursday in Lodz, Poland. The Japanese, who finished runner-up to Italy at last year's Nations League, won 25-21, 16-25, 25-20, 22-25, 15-9, with captain Mayu Ishikawa leading the way with a team-high 19 points. "We were able to attack aggressively as our head coach always tells us," Ishikawa said. "We often found ourselves in tough situations because of poor serve-receptions. But we helped each other with clutch spikes and good defense." Melissa Teresa Vargas scored a match-high 22 points for Turkey. Japan will next play Brazil on Saturday for a spot in the final. © KYODO


Kyodo News
16 hours ago
- Kyodo News
Baseball: Ichiro attends opening of Japan-linked Hall of Fame exhibit
COOPERSTOWN, New York - Ichiro Suzuki on Thursday attended the opening of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum's latest exhibit celebrating Japanese connections to the game, along with Hideo Nomo and Cal Ripken Jr. The exhibit, titled "Yakyu/Baseball: The Transpacific Exchange of the Game," features artifacts and stories about a game that became the most popular sport in Japan less than 50 years after the country established diplomatic relations with the United States, the museum said. Ichiro, the first Asian-born player elected to the hall, will be formally inducted as a Class of 2025 member this weekend in Cooperstown, New York. The former Seattle Mariners icon is scheduled to take part in Saturday's parade with fellow Class of 2025 members CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner, and will make a speech at Sunday's induction ceremony.