Shohei Ohtani hit a leadoff homer and Teoscar Hernandez followed with a three-run shot in the first inning of the Los Angeles Dodgers ’ seventh victory in eight games, 6-3 over the Texas Rangers on Saturday night.
Emmet Sheehan (2-0) pitched six innings of four-hit ball with six strikeouts for the defending World Series champion Dodgers, whose 11-3 start is the best in the majors. Will Smith reached base four times and scored two runs.
Brandon Nimmo hit a leadoff homer, another two-run shot and a double for the Rangers, who have lost six of nine with their back-to-back defeats at Dodger Stadium. The rest of Texas’ lineup managed just one hit, a sixth-inning single by Josh Jung.
Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani crushes leadoff homer to tie score against Rangers
Sheehan excelled against almost every Texas hitter except Nimmo, who hammered his second pitch 405 feet to dead center for the 15th leadoff homer of the longtime Mets slugger’s career.
Ohtani answered moments later with a blast to right for his first homer at Chavez Ravine this season while also extending his on-base streak to 45 games. The four-time MVP has four home runs in eight games after starting the season in a six-game homer drought.
Five batters later, Hernández brought home Smith and Freddie Freeman with a big shot to left, his third of the season.
Jack Leiter (1-1) yielded five runs on five hits and four walks while failing to get out of the fourth inning for Texas.
Nimmo’s two-run shot in the sixth trimmed LA’s lead to 5-3 and secured his first multi-homer game for his new team.
Hernández doubled and scored on Andy Pages‘ single in the eighth.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts didn’t give the ninth inning to new closer Edwin Diaz, who blew a three-run lead in Friday’s victory. Blake Treinen allowed two baserunners and got two outs before Alex Vesia struck out Danny Jansen to secure his first save.
Up next
RHP Jacob deGrom (0-0, 3.72 ERA) starts the series finale for Texas on Sunday against RHP Roki Sasaki (0-1, 7.00).
Reporting by The Associated Press.
