Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani hit a home run in his first at-bat against the San Diego Padres.
The Dodgers took a 1-0 lead in the road game against the San Diego Padres in the 2026 Major League Baseball season at Petco Park in San Diego, California, on the 21st (Korea time). Ohtani hit the home run.
The starting pitcher that day was Ohtani, and he was listed as the No. 1 batter in the starting lineup. The Dodgers arranged the batting order that day as Ohtani (pitcher), Mookie Betts (shortstop), Freddie Freeman (first baseman), Kyle Tucker (right fielder), Andy Pages (center fielder), Max Muncy (third baseman), Will Smith (catcher), Teoscar Hernández (left fielder) and Kim Hye-seong (second baseman).
As a pitcher this season, Ohtani has appeared in seven games, recording a 3-2 record and a 0.82 earned run average. In his previous appearance on the 14th against the San Francisco Giants, he earned the win with seven scoreless innings.
He is again doing both pitching and hitting. After pitching exclusively in his last three outings, Ohtani also appeared as a batter that day. He had raised his hitting form with hits in six consecutive recent games. Ohtani expressed confidence, saying, "My perception of the strike zone has improved and I can see the ball better. The launch angle is getting better, so more home runs will come."
It was a confidence with reason. In the top of the first inning, Ohtani targeted San Diego starter Randy Vasquez's first pitch, a four-seam fastball clocked at 95.5 mph (about 154 km/h), and hit a solo home run over the center-field wall.
Ohtani hit his first home run in six games since the home game against the San Francisco Giants on the 13th. It was his eighth home run of the season.
[OSEN]