Baseball

Shohei Ohtani Hits Long HR in Return to Japan Against Yomiuri Giants

AP
Los Angeles Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani, left, and Yomiuri Giants’ Yoshihiro Maru, front, greet each other before the first inning of a spring training baseball game in Tokyo, Japan, Saturday, March 15, 2025.

20:35 JST, March 15, 2025

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese star Shohei Ohtani showed off some prodigious power in his return to the Tokyo Dome on Saturday night.

In an exhibition game against the Yomiuri Giants, the three-time Most Valuable Player belted a long two-run homer to right field in the third inning to give the Dodgers a 4-0 lead, setting off a roar from the roughly 42,000 fans in attendance.

The Dodgers put on quite a power display in the third with Michael Conforto, Ohtani and Teoscar Hernández all going deep to give Los Angeles a 5-0 advantage.

The Dodgers are playing in Japan as part of the Tokyo Series. The team is playing two exhibition games against Japanese teams before starting the regular season with two games against the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Ohtani became the first player in MLB history to have at least 50 homers and 50 stolen bases in one season in 2024. He played several seasons for the Nippon Ham Fighters in Japan before coming to the U.S. in 2018 with the Los Angeles Angels.