Ohtani's Power Surge Propels Dodgers to Victory

LOS ANGELES – Shohei Ohtani hadn’t hit a home run in recent games, but on Saturday night, he more than made up for it.

Ohtani launched two home runs, including his career’s 250th, bolstering Clayton Kershaw’s standout performance. Kershaw delivered seven scoreless innings in the Dodgers’ 11-5 win over the Giants at Dodger Stadium.

This marked Ohtani’s third multi-home run game of the 2025 season. His second home run of the night, and his 25th of the season, equaled Brady Anderson’s 1996 record for the most homers by a leadoff hitter in a team’s first 71 games. Additionally, Ohtani tied Gary Sheffield’s (2000) record for the most home runs in Dodgers history through 71 games.

He achieved these milestones even after going 10 games without a home run.

In the Dodgers’ half of the first inning, Ohtani hit his 24th home run, projected by Statcast to travel 419 feet into right-field at a sizzling 110.3 mph off the bat. This set the stage for a challenging night for Giants starter Landen Roupp, who was pulled in the second inning after conceding five runs.

The milestone 250th home run arrived in the sixth inning. Ohtani reached out to connect with a Tristan Beck curveball on the outer edge of the plate and powered it into the stands. His 25th home run of the season extended his lead in the National League’s home run tally and brought him just one homer shy of MLB leaders Aaron Judge and Cal Raleigh.

Playing in his 928th game as a batter, Ohtani became the quickest in Major League history to achieve over 250 home runs and 150-plus steals, surpassing Alex Rodriguez’s record of 977 games.