Shohei Ohtani slugs NL-leading 30th HR as Dodgers top White Sox
Shohei Ohtani hit his National League-leading 30th home run and Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched seven strong innings as the Los Angeles Dodgers opened a six-game homestand with a 6-1 victory over the visiting Chicago White Sox on Tuesday.
The Dodgers got to Smith early with a four-run first inning. After Smith retired Ohtani and Freddie Freeman to open his outing, the next five Los Angeles hitters reached base. Teoscar Hernandez had an RBI single, Pages had an RBI double and Conforto followed with a two-run single.
As the Los Angeles Dodgers continue to battle through the ups and downs of the MLB season, with a series of injuries to players like Michael Kopech putting a damper on an otherwise encouraging season, the brightest spot has been the play of Shohei Ohtani, who has once again returned to the mound after putting up MVP caliber numbers up as just a hitter.
So far this season, Ohtani’s starts have been limited, with the first two lasting only an inning, while the third went into the second as the MVP works back from 2023 surgery, but for the most part, these games have effectively been bullpen outings, with Justin Wrokbleski and Ben Casparius often soaking up much of the load before Anthony Bonda and Tanner Scott close things out.
