Japanese Major League Baseball star Ohtani Shohei of the Los Angeles Dodgers hit his 21st homerun of the season in the first inning of a game. It was his seventh career leadoff homer.
In the final game of a four-game series against the Colorado Rockies in Denver on Thursday, Ohtani batted first in the lineup as a designated hitter.
He slammed the fourth pitch over the center-field wall. That puts him at the top of the homer tally in the National League at this point. The ball Ohtani hit had a speed of 163.3 kilometers per hour and flew 130.1 meters.
Ohtani has played well in his past four games. He hit three homers and had a batting average of .500 during that period.
The leadoff homer was Ohtani's first since May 2022, and it was the seventh of his 7-year MLB career.
Ohtani went one-for-three with one RBI and two walks. He extended his hitting streak to five, and raised his batting average to .318.
The Dodgers won the game 5-3 and finished the four-game series 3 to 1.