Shohei Ohtani Hits 18th Homer in Dodgers' Victory

Shohei Ohtani hit his 18th home run of the season on June 30. He now has 3 home runs in his last 5 games as a hitter.

What happened?

Ohtani's home run was a solo shot off Zebby Matthews in the first inning. He also had 3 hard-hit balls, including a 111 mph lineout.

Why it matters for Shohei Ohtani

The Dodgers have made a real effort to limit Ohtani's workload when he's pitching this season. However, those considerations are completely out the window for this contest.

What comes next?

Ohtani is scheduled to start against the Twins on Wednesday. He threw 16 fastballs that reached 100 mph and topped out at 102 in his last outing.

Ohtani forced 20 total swings-and-misses with 13 coming on his sweeper alone. His velocity was up about three ticks across the board.

He was in the middle of a Dodgers' rally in the third inning with an RBI knock and came around to score shortly thereafter.

Ohtani's lowest slugging percentage in a single-season over the last three years is .622, but this year he is slugging only .558.

The 31-year-old generational talent was back in Los Angeles' lineup following a one-game absence during Friday's series opener while on paternity leave.

Ohtani went deep off Orioles reliever Andrew Kittredge on the eve of Father’s Day shortly after the arrival of his second child earlier in the week.

The 114.6 mph moonshot was traveled 413 feet and broke up a potential shutout in the ninth inning.