Baseball

Shohei Ohtani Homer as the Dodgers Beat the Phillies 5-3 in Opener between NL Division Leaders

AP Photo/Kyusung Gong
Los Angeles Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani hits a solo home run during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies in Los Angeles, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024.

14:08 JST, August 6, 2024

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Teoscar Hernández hit a tiebreaking, two-run homer in the third inning, Shohei Ohtani went deep in the eighth and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Philadelphia Phillies 5-3 on Monday night in a matchup of NL division leaders.

AP Photo/Kyusung Gong
Shohei Ohtani watches his solo home run during the eighth inning

Tyler Glasnow (9-6) struck out nine and gave up three runs and four hits in six innings. The right-hander has notched a career-high 164 strikeouts on the season.

Glasnow retired the side in order four times, including getting Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner and Bryce Harper on swinging strikeouts in the first.

Harper struck out three times in all as the NL East-leading Phillies lost for the seventh time in eight games after taking a 2-0 lead with two outs in the second.

Freddie Freeman returned to the Dodgers’ lineup after missing eight games while tending to his ailing 3-year-old son. He was 1 for 4.

The NL West-leading Dodgers rallied with four runs in the third. Andy Pages hit an RBI double in the left field corner and Ohtani tied it 2-2 with a sacrifice fly to the warning track in right for his 80th RBI of the season. Hernández followed with his 24th homer to left for a 4-2 lead off Aaron Nola (11-5).

Daniel Hudson pitched a scoreless ninth to earn his eighth save.

After Schwarber singled, Glasnow wasn’t able to put Harper away with two strikes in the sixth, and he doubled down the left field line. Schwarber scored on Alec Bohm’s RBI groundout, drawing the Phillies to 4-3.

Dodgers reliever Anthony Banda pitched a scoreless eighth, stranding Schwarber and Bohm.

AP Photo/Kyusung Gong
Los Angeles Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani, right, steals third base during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies in Los Angeles, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024.

Ohtani’s 34th homer extended the Dodgers’ lead to 5-3 leading off the bottom of the eighth. Center fielder Brandon Marsh made a futile leap at the wall as Ohtani circled back to first, apparently to make sure he had touched the base before completing his home run trot.

The Dodgers ended a four-game skid against the Phillies, which was their longest active such streak against any opponent. They were swept in three games in Philadelphia last month.

Will Smith and Kiké Hernández were the only Dodgers without a hit.