Shohei Ohtani and Miguel Vargas on Saturday hit solo shots in the eighth inning, while Will Smith became the first Los Angeles player to homer in four consecutive at-bats in a decade, as the Dodgers beat the Milwaukee Brewers 5-3.
After Christian Yelich went deep to tie the game at three-all in the top of the eighth, the Dodgers responded with two homers to win their second straight in the matchup of National League (NL) division leaders.
Vargas, pinch hitting for Gavin Lux, led off the frame with a drive off Bryan Hudson (4-1) that bounced off the top of the wall in left-center to give the Dodgers the lead.
Photo: AP
“It’s great. To be ready for those type of moments, it feels great to have success on them,” Vargas said. “I have to be ready when the moments come.”
It was Vargas’ 11th career home run, but his first as a pinch hitter.
Two batters later, Ohtani drove a cutter from Hudson 430 feet (131m). It was Ohtani’s 28th of the season, which leads the NL and is second in the majors behind the New York Yankees’ Aaron Judge, who has 32.
Ohtani also became the third MLB player since 1909 with a home run, triple, walk, hit by pitch and stolen base in a game. Coincidentally, the last player to do it was Yelich on June 1, 2019, against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The first was Bert Daniels of the New York Highlanders against the Chicago White Sox on July 8, 1910.
Ohtani struck out in six straight at-bats on Thursday and Friday, and was 1 for 12 in his past three games coming into Saturday. He was 0 for 5 on Friday, his 30th birthday.
“I felt like he was going to be able to reset himself,” manager Dave Roberts said. “He took a couple walks, got the ball up in the zone and he was back to being Shohei.”
Smith, who had his first three-homer game in Friday night’s 8-5 win, hit a two-run shot off Freddy Peralta in the first inning to put the Dodgers up 2-1. The last Dodger to homer in four straight at-bats was Adrian Gonzalez in 2015.
The Dodgers have gone deep seven times in the first two games of the series.
Rhys Hoskins also homered for the Brewers, who have dropped four of six on their road trip.
Elsewhere, the Minnesota Twins beat the Houston Astros 9-3, the Yankees dominated the Boston Red Sox 14-4, the Cleveland Guardians pipped the San Francisco Giants 5-4, the Los Angeles Angels blanked the Chicago Cubs 7-0 and the Washington Nationals downed the St Louis Cardinals 14-6.
The New York Mets outplayed the Pirates 5-2, the Texas Rangers survived the Tampa Bay Rays 4-3, the Detroit Tigers rallied past the Cincinnati Reds 5-3, the Atlanta Braves defeated the Philadelphia Phillies 5-1 and the Colorado Rockies beat the Kansas City Royals 3-1.
The Oakland Athletics devastated the Baltimore Orioles 19-8, the Toronto Blue Jays dropped the Seattle Mariners 5-4, the Miami Marlins overcame the White Sox 4-3 and the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Padres 7-5 in 10 innings.
Additional reporting by staff writer, with Reuters
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