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The Los Angeles Dodgers returned to Chavez Ravine riding high after a successful road trip and kept the momentum going with a 6-1 win over the Chicago White Sox.
By Earl Heath | Contributing Sports Writer
The Los Angeles Dodgers returned to Chavez Ravine riding high after a successful road trip and kept the momentum going with a 6-1 win over the Chicago White Sox.
The Dodgers jumped out to a commanding 4-0 lead in the first inning, giving starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto all the cushion he needed. The Japanese right-hander improved to 8-6 on the season, delivering a solid performance backed by the team’s most run support in a game this year.
Shohei Ohtani, who had been in a brief slump, made headlines with a towering 408-foot home run to center in the fourth inning. The blast came moments after he fouled a ball off the knee of home plate umpire Alan Porter. Ohtani showed concern, checking on Porter and waiting until the veteran ump got to his feet before stepping back into the box.
Then he went “uptown,” as Earl would say, ending an 0-for-6 streak and stretching the Dodgers’ lead to 6-1.
The homer marked Ohtani’s 30th of the season, making him the third player to hit 30 or more homers before the All-Star break this year, alongside Seattle’s Cal Raleigh (33) and the Yankees’ Aaron Judge (30). He matched Cody Bellinger’s 2019 feat of 30 home runs before the break, reaching the milestone in just 84 games—one fewer than Bellinger.
With six games left before the break, Ohtani has a chance to raise the bar even higher.
The win was the Dodgers’ 13th in their last 16 games, and it extended their NL West lead to a season-high eight games. The club’s consistency on both sides of the ball is setting them up well for the second half of the season.