Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts compared Shohei Ohtani to a superhero. Tommy Edman said he is like something out of a video game.
No matter how you describe it, when the lights are at their brightest, Ohtani tends to deliver.
The superstar gave his Japanese fans a parting gift before heading back to Los Angeles by hitting one of the Dodgers’ three home runs in a 6-3 win over the Chicago Cubs.
“I’m happy that we won, and I’m relieved I hit a home run,” Ohtani said.
The Dodgers, who beat the Cubs 4-1 on Tuesday, earned a sweep in the season-opening Tokyo Series to get their World Series title defense off to a perfect start.
Edman hit the first home run of the MLB season, and Enrique Hernandez had a two-run shot and drove in another run with a sacrifice fly.
Dodgers starter Roki Sasaki was electric at times and erratic at times in his highly anticipated MLB debut, but Ohtani stole the show with his first home run of the season.
“It’s almost kind of become the expectation when he comes up in a big situation that he’s going to come through,” Edman said. “It’s kind of just ridiculous. It seems like he’s just playing a video game, and we’re all just out there grinding, trying to do whatever we can to win the game, and he’s just playing a different game altogether."
Ohtani, who had a pair of hits in the Dodgers’ win on Tuesday, was 1-for-3 on Wednesday. He was intentionally walked in the top of the seventh, a move that led to a chorus of boos at the Big Egg.
“I know Shohei puts his pants on just like we all do, one leg at a time,” Roberts said. “But if there’s ever a superhero, I think Shohei just seems like a superhero. In the biggest of games or the biggest of moments, he seems to always deliver.”
Ohtani's home run was a high, towering shot to right that bounced back onto the field in the fifth inning. The umpires signaled that it was a home run, and the call was upheld on review.
“I fully thought it was going out, but it was a little close,” Ohtani said.
Sasaki was one of the most coveted arms on the market in December when the Chiba Lotte Marines made him available to MLB teams through the posting system. The 23-year-old joined Ohtani and fellow Japanese pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto on the Dodgers in January.
He displayed his promise with a litany of blistering fastballs to start the game — his first four pitches were all over 161 kph (100 mph) — but had trouble being consistent with his splitter. He retired all three batters he faced in the first inning and registered his first strikeout against Seiya Suzuki.
Sasaki, however, struggled with his command at times, including when he walked three straight batters to force in a run in the third.
“I felt like I usually do,” Sasaki said. “I threw with a good nervousness. I’m glad I was able to pitch in front of the Japanese fans. They created an amazing environment that is unique to Japan and it is different than it will be in America.”
He pitched three innings and allowed one run. He struck out three and walked five. Sasaki did not factor into the decision, and Landon Knack earned the win in relief.
Sasaki ended his night on a high note by striking out Matt Shaw with the bases loaded.
“I think it's kind of like where Yoshinobu was last year,” Roberts said. “Where major league pitchers have to learn to trust their fastball and command it, and it makes their secondary pitchers play up. No. 1, I believe that he’s going to continue to get that conviction to command the fastball.
"Today, a lot of his splits were ball out of the hand. If he can get his split over the plate more, he’ll get a lot more swing and miss also.”
The Cubs' Kyle Tucker drew a bases-loaded walk, and Ian Happ and Dansby Swanson each drove in a run.
Chicago starter Justin Steele was charged with the loss after allowing five runs on five hits over four innings.
The Dodgers went ahead 2-0 in the second inning when Will Smith scored on a passed ball and Hernadnez hit a sacrifice fly. Edman made it 3-0 with his home run in the third.
The Cubs got on the board in the bottom half of the inning before the Dodgers went ahead 5-1 on a deep blast to left by Hernandez.
Ian Happ hit an RBI single to make the score 5-2 in the bottom of the fourth.
Ohtani’s homer made it 6-2, and the Cubs’ Dansby Swanson pulled a run back with an RBI double.
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