Shohei Ohtani on Tuesday night slammed a 450-foot (137m) homer to the second deck in right field in his first visit to Nationals Park, as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Washington Nationals 4-1.
Ohtani’s sixth homer of the season was the hardest-hit of his career at 118.7mph (191kph). 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.
“There’s only a few guys that can hit a ball like that,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “It was a topspin liner that reached the second deck. There’s not too many guys that can do that. Shohei, we’ve talked about controlling the strike zone. When he does that, it is hard to get him out. It’s lightning in that bat. Any time he swings the bat and makes contact, he can change the game.”
Photo: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY
Ohtani, who is batting a major league-best .364, extended his hitting streak to eight games and has 177 career homers. His previous long ball on Sunday gave him the record for homers by a Japanese-born player in the MLB, surpassing Hideki Matsui.
In Georgia, Max Fried pitched a three-hitter for the Atlanta Braves’ first nine-inning complete game since 2022, while Adam Duvall had a two-run homer as they blanked the Miami Marlins 5-0 for the second night in a row.
After a rough start to the season, Fried (2-0) looks like himself again. It took just 1 hour, 54 minutes for the left-hander to mow down the hapless Marlins, who were shut out for the second night in a row by the Braves and have gone 20 innings without a run.
“I was just trying to get back to being who I am,” Fried said. “Get ground balls, be on the attack.”
Fried was so dominant the Braves did not have anyone in the bullpen even bother warming up — a far cry from the workload he put on the relievers in his first two starts.
“I had to pay them back,” Fried said.
Elsewhere, The Pittsburgh Pirates survived the Milwaukee Brewer 2-1, the Detroit Tigers outplayed the Tampa Bay Rays 4-2, the Cleveland Guardians beat the Boston Red Sox 4-1, the Cincinnati Reds trounced the Philadelphia Phillies 8-1 and the New York Yankees pipped the Oakland Athletics 4-3.
The Kansas City Royals defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 3-2, the Seattle Mariners blanked the Texas Rangers 4-0, the Minnesota Twins overcame the Chicago White Sox 6-5 and the Arizona Diamondbacks dominated the St Louis Cardinals 14-1.
The Chicago Cubs dispatched the Houston Astros 7-2, the Colorado Rockies beat the San Diego Padres 7-4, the San Francisco Giants took down the New York Mets 5-1 and the Los Angeles Angels defeated the Baltimore Orioles 7-4.
Additional reporting staff writer
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