Shohei Ohtani gives up homer, hits homer in same inning as Dodgers get a win

LOS ANGELES — For these Dodgers, if it’s not one thing, it’s another.

Making his sixth pitching start of the season, Ohtani gave up a home run on his second pitch of the game to Byron Buxton – then topped that with a two-run home run of his own in the bottom of the first inning, sending the Dodgers on their way to a 5-2 victory over the Minnesota Twins.

Ohtani’s was the first of four home runs in the game for the Dodgers. Will Smith hit two and Andy Pages added one – all solo homers – in the Dodgers’ first win after a winless week encompassing the four-day All-Star break and a three-game sweep by the red-hot Milwaukee Brewers. It also ended a six-game home losing streak, their longest since 2017.

But even this win came with a loss. Closer Tanner Scott left the game in the ninth inning after feeling “something in his forearm,” according to Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. Scott will undergo an MRI on Tuesday and “most likely” go on the IL, according to Roberts.

“Emotionally, not well,” Roberts said after the game when asked how Scott was doing. “He just felt something in his forearm as far as like a sting sensation. We’re gonna get an MRI tomorrow and we’ll know more after that.

“Obviously, any time a pitcher’s gotta come out of the game, it’s concerning. And so, I think for us, I think we’re just gonna sit back and wait for the results to kind of further assess.”

The Dodgers had emerged from the All-Star break optimistic that their pitching staff would be getting healthier. Blake Snell could be one more rehab start away from rejoining the rotation. Blake Treinen is close to returning but won’t be rushed back to fill Scott’s spot, Roberts said. The veteran reliever still has to pitch on back-to-back days to complete his rehab.

“I’m trying not to go down a spiraling thing with where it could be,” Roberts said. “The manual tests were good. So hopefully it’s something that’s more of a scare and then we can kind of put him on ice for a little bit and get him back.”

Buxton’s home run to start the game was the first given up by Ohtani since returning to the mound this season.

“It was just my mistake,” Ohtani said through his interpreter. “A really good hitter like him makes you pay for it.”

Ohtani’s home run (his 35th of the season) was his first home run while pitching (he hit one after he was done pitching in a start against the Washington Nationals last month) and his first hit of any kind in his first at-bat after taking the mound.

The combination was something even Ohtani hadn’t done before.

It was the first time a pitcher had allowed and hit a home run in the first inning of the same game since Randy Lerch of the Philadelphia Phillies did it in the first inning of a legendary 23-22 game between the Phillies and Chicago Cubs on May 17, 1979 at Wrigley Field.

Buxton’s homer left his bat at 104.8 mph. The Twins put 10 balls in play during Ohtani’s three innings on the mound. Five had exit velocities of 100 mph or higher.

But Ohtani didn’t give up another run, stranding runners on base in each of his three innings while throwing a season-high 46 pitches.

“A lot of mistakes over the plate, especially with two strikes,” Ohtani said. “The execution of it. And I should have been expanding (outside the zone), but it was thrown at places where hitters could hit it.”

What Ohtani the pitcher gave up, Ohtani the hitter took back quickly.

In the second game since Mookie Betts moved ahead of Ohtani into the leadoff spot, Betts drew a walk then rode home on Ohtani’s 35th home run of the season. At 441 feet to straightaway center field, it was the third-longest home run of the season for Ohtani (he has hit two that were estimated at 448 feet).

It was also the third consecutive game with a home run for Ohtani, his third three-game streak of the season.

Over the weekend, Roberts said he could feel Ohtani trying to “will” the Dodgers out of their funk. That intent could be seen with a more forceful bat flip than usual following his home run.

“It’s easy to really fall into the trap of getting a little bit tense, especially when the mood is not that great,” Ohtani said. “So it’s really trying to balance and find a way to stay relaxed while you play. And at the same time, yeah, I do feel responsible for it.”

Smith added solo home runs in the fourth and sixth innings and Dustin May followed Ohtani on the mound, holding the Twins scoreless for 4⅔ innings.

In his first relief appearance since Sept. 2020, May threw 100 pitches – more than he had in any of his 17 starts this season. He gave up five hits and walked three but worked around all the traffic, stranding seven baserunners and getting one double play ball.

“Just trusting my stuff. There’s definitely been a lot of ups and downs this year,” said May, who will go back into the starting rotation the next time around, according to Roberts. “Just been trying to get some mechanical cues locked down to try and figure some stuff out to be able to get more hitters out. I thought it was a little better tonight. There were some rocky spots, but overall I was able to find my groove back.”

Scott replaced May with two of those runners on in the eighth inning. He escaped when third baseman Tommy Edman made a leaping grab of Harrison Bader’s line drive.

In the ninth inning, though, Scott walked one batter and hit another before spiking a 2-and-2 slider to Ryan Jeffers that brought Roberts and a trainer out of the dugout.

Scott left the game and was replaced by Kirby Yates, who loaded the bases, gave up a run on a sacrifice fly and a long drive by Carlos Correa that James Outman caught at the wall, just short of tying the score.

“When you win a game, and there was a lot of good things that happened tonight – but it certainly takes a little bit of the joy out of what happened tonight,” Roberts said of Scott’s injury.