Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman each drilled two-run homers as the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the host Miami Marlins 7-4 on Monday night in the opener of a three-game series.
Ohtani, who hit a National League-high 54 homers last year, has nine this season. His homer on Monday was a rocket clocked at 117.9 mph.
Dodgers right fielder Teoscar Hernandez went 2-for-2 with his MLB-high 34th RBI of the season. However, he was removed in the fourth inning due to left hamstring tightness.
On the positive side for the Dodgers, second baseman Hyeseong Kim – a 26-year-old native of South Korea — singled in the fifth inning for his first major league hit. He finished 2-for-4 with an RBI, a run and a steal.
The Dodgers, who have won eight of their past nine, went with a bullpen game. The win went to Ben Casparius (4-0), the second of seven pitchers, who held Miami to one run over four innings. He allowed five hits, struck out five and walked two.
Marlins starter Sandy Alcantara took the loss, allowing five runs on six hits in five innings with four strikeouts and one walk. Alcantara (2-4), who won the NL Cy Young Award in 2022, has an 8.42 ERA.
Miami, which has lost eight of its last nine, was led by rookie Agustin Ramirez, who blasted the longest drive of the night – a pinch-hit, three-run homer in the eighth that went 424 feet.
Los Angeles opened the scoring in the first inning as Mookie Betts singled and scored on a Hernandez double that deflected off left fielder Kyle Stowers’ glove.
The Dodgers made it 3-0 in the third as Ohtani walked, stole second and jogged home on Freeman’s homer to right-center. It was Freeman’s seventh homer of the season and his third in his past five games.
In the fifth, Kim singled, stole second and scored on Ohtani’s blast to right-center for a 5-0 Los Angeles lead.
The Dodgers made it 6-0 in the sixth as Andy Pages delivered a two-out single, moved to second on Michael Conforto’s single and scored on Kim’s bloop single.
Miami cut its deficit to 6-1 in the bottom of the sixth as Eric Wagaman doubled and scored on Connor Norby’s single.
The Dodgers extended their advantage to 7-1 in the seventh as Betts singled and scored on Chris Taylor’s double down the left field line.
Ramirez’s homer in the eighth gave Miami some hope, but the Dodgers proceeded to shut the Marlins down.
