Baseball

Shohei Ohtani Hits 450-foot Homer into Second Deck at Nationals Park in Dodgers’ 4-1 Win

AP Photo/Alex Brandon
Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani jogs back to the dugout during the fifth inning of the team’s baseball game against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park, Tuesday, April 23, 2024, in Washington.

11:50 JST, April 24, 2024

WASHINGTON (AP) — Shohei Ohtani hit a 450-foot homer to the second deck in right field in his first visit to Nationals Park, and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat Washington 4-1 on Tuesday night.

Ohtani’s sixth homer of the season was the hardest-hit of his career at 118.7 mph. It was also the hardest-hit home run for a Dodgers player in the Statcast era, which began in 2015. The solo shot in the ninth inning off Matt Barnes made it 4-1 after pinch-hitter James Outman and Miguel Rojas drove in runs an inning earlier to put Los Angeles ahead.

Ohtani has 177 career homers. His previous longball on Sunday gave him the record for homers by a Japanese-born player in Major League Baseball, surpassing Hideki Matsui.

“Dangerous, very dangerous,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of Ohtani before the game. “Any time he swings the bat he can hang the game and now being even more disciplined in the strike zone just makes him more scary.”

AP Photo/Alex Brandon
Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani hits a solo home run during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park, Tuesday, April 23, 2024, in Washington. The Dodgers won 4-1

Outman, batting for Kiké Hernández, drilled a splitter from Hunter Harvey (1-1) to right field for a double in the eighth to score Teoscar Hernández from second and break a 1-1 tie. Rojas followed with a run-scoring single.

Dodgers starter James Paxton needed 89 pitches to get through 4 2/3 innings, scattering five hits and allowing one run.

Relievers Michael Grove, Alex Vesia (1-2), Daniel Hudson and Evan Phillips held Washington scoreless the rest of the way. Phillips worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the ninth for his sixth save.

Nationals starter Patrick Corbin, who allowed five runs in a 6-2 loss to the Dodgers a week ago, worked 5 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing three hits, three walks and striking out three on 86 pitches.

The Dodgers tied the game in sixth on an RBI single by Hernández.

Freddie Freeman went 2-for-4 with a single and a double. Rojas had two singles.