Shohei Ohtani on Monday had two doubles and a home run — his third in five games — to tie his career high with three extra-base hits and power the Los Angeles Dodgers past the Minnesota Twins 4-2, while the Cleveland Guardians’ followed a total eclipse by winning first-year manager Stephen Vogt’s home debut.
In Minneapolis, James Outman hit the go-ahead homer in the seventh inning and Freddie Freeman and Will Smith drove in runs, while Evan Phillips picked up his fourth save to fuel another smooth victory for Dodgers newcomer James Paxton (2-0), who flashed a wide smile when asked afterward about Ohtani’s impact.
“If he puts the barrel on the ball, it’s coming off at 105[mph]-plus. It’s pretty amazing, just how hard he swings and just how hard he hits the ball,” said Paxton, who gave up two runs in six innings. “I’m glad to have him on my side.”
Photo: AFP
Manny Margot hit a two-run homer off his former team to give the Twins a third-inning lead, but the loaded Dodgers lineup was too much for their depleted bullpen after starter Bailey Ober deftly worked to depart with one run allowed in five innings.
Ohtani doubled off the first pitch of the sixth from Steven Okert and scored the tying run on a single by Smith.
Ohtani, who revealed in an afternoon interview session that he has been using a cricket-style bat with a paddle-like barrel for mechanical work before and during games, had a relatively quiet start to his Dodgers career after signing a record US$700 million contract and losing his trusted interpreter in an alleged gambling scandal.
Photo: Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY
The two-time Most Valuable Player and two-continent superstar has clearly found his swing. Ohtani is 11 for 22 in his past five games with eight extra-base hits and five RBIs.
“After I saw Shohei get two hits, I was swinging the cricket bat,” Outman said.
In Cleveland, the first pitch in the Guardians game against the Chicago White Sox was upstaged by the solar eclipse, which briefly turned day into night at Progressive Field and made an annual rite of spring seem almost surreal.
Photo: AFP
Two hours before making his home debut as Guardians manager, Vogt stood on the grass near the third-base line and gazed at the spectacle in the sky while wearing special solar-viewing glasses — hardly a typical opener.
Cleveland’s players joined Vogt on the field to take photographs and gawk at the alignment of Earth, moon and sun — an event that more than lived up to its hype.
“Super dope,” Guardians pitcher Triston McKenzie said.
Photo: AP
At 3:13pm, the moment of totality, the Cleveland crowd erupted with a loud roar as if All-Star third baseman Jose Ramirez had connected for a homer. Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon blared over the stadium’s speaker system.
For the next four minutes, Cleveland baseball fans shared something they would never forget — or witness again.
The next one would not be until 2444.
“That was amazing,” said 11-year-old Colton Nice, who stood in the front row behind Cleveland’s dugout.
The Guardians pushed back the starting time two hours to 5:10pm so the eclipse would not interrupt the game, while also allowing Cleveland fans and astronomy enthusiasts who flocked into the city to soak it in.
White Sox pitcher Erick Fedde was not sure what to expect, but he was excited to be a part of it.
“Space is cool, right?” Fedde said while the White Sox took early batting practice. “People in our hotel are here just for the eclipse, which is kind of neat. Space groupies, I guess. I’ve never experienced one, so I’m looking forward to it.”
Ramirez did not let down the home crowd, hitting a two-run homer — his 100th at Progressive Field — for the Guardians to blank the White Sox 4-0.
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