Los Angeles – Give up one, hit one.
Shohei Ohtani, who was on either side of the long ball in the first inning against the Twins in Monday night's series opener, shot a leading home run at Byron Buxton before smashing two blasts of explosive blasts, applying 441 feet to the direct center.
Prior to that, since Phillies' Randy Lerch on May 17, 1979, no pitcher gave up and hit a home run in the first inning of the same game.
When Ohtani started the sixth time on the mound of the season, he hung up a two-point sweeper to Buxton, who sent it into the seat in the left center. It was the first home run of the season (and the first extra hit rate) that hit Ohtani, who hasn't allowed to run in eight innings since he first entered the mound.
But unlike other pitchers, Ohtani can provide her own running support. After a walk to open the bottom of the first, Ohtani switched a substitution from twin starter David Festa at 113.4 mph on his 35th home run of the season.
Ohtani hit five career first innings home runs as a pitcher. No other pitcher in Major League Baseball history has more than two.
When the twins slammed the ball hard on Ohtani's outings – eight of his 11 balls hit 97.5 miles or faster – the Dodgers' two-way superstar limits the damage to Buxton's leading shot. Ohtani threw 46 balls, completed three consecutive outings, hitting three games and allowing four hits and walks.