LOS ANGELES — Friday morning, Shohei Ohtani, Dave Roberts and other members of the Dodgers’ organization were at city hall where the Los Angeles City Council declared May 17 “Shohei Ohtani Day” in L.A. for as long as Ohtani plays for the Dodgers.
Before the game Friday night, Ohtani was asked jokingly if there were any special traditions he would like to establish for Ohtani Day. He played along and laughed off suggestions of gift exchanges or special decorations.
Asked what an appropriate food might be for future Ohtani Day meals, he said, “Sushi” – then as he walked away, “Or pizza.”
A few hours later, Ohtani marked the day in his own way, hitting a two-run home run and later scoring the tie-breaking run as the Dodgers beat the Cincinnati Reds, 7-3.
The opposite-field home run in the third inning was Ohtani’s 13th of the season, tying him with Baltimore’s Gunnar Henderson and Houston’s Kyle Tucker for the major-league lead.
Ohtani’s homer built on an early lead supplied by Mookie Betts, who led off the game with a home run. It was the 51st leadoff home run of his career, fifth all-time.
But the Reds chipped away against James Paxton to tie the score in the sixth inning on Tyler Stephenson’s solo home run.
Their first run scored during a rough defensive inning for Betts in the fourth. Betts made a throwing error as the run scored and, on the next play, dropped a potential double play ball on the turn at second base, settling for a forceout.
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With the score tied 3-3, Kiké Hernandez led off the seventh inning with a single. Two batters later, Ohtani hit a hard ground ball at first baseman Jeimer Candelario. Candelario got the forceout at second base but shortstop Elly De La Cruz’s return throw – pointless because Ohtani was too fast to be doubled up on the play – went into the Reds’ dugout.
Ohtani went to second on the throwing error. After an intentional walk of Freddie Freeman, Will Smith shot a ground ball into left field for a single that drove in Ohtani with the go-ahead run. Freeman went to third on the play then scored on a wild pitch by Reds reliever Fernando Cruz.
In the eighth inning, Jason Heyward broke the game open with a two-run home run off another Reds reliever, Alexis Diaz. Heyward was activated from the injured list before the game. He had been out since March 30 due to a lower back strain.
More to come on this story.