Shohei Ohtani hit his first home run after a slow start and added four RBIs as the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers unleashed a stagnant offense for a 13-6 victory in the Washington Nationals’ home opener.
Kyle Tucker, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Andy Pages hit home runs and added two RBIs each in the Dodgers’ first road game of the season. Emmet Sheehan (1-0) went 5 2/3 innings, allowing four runs on seven hits with three walks and two strikeouts.
Nationals right-hander Miles Mikolas (0-2) surrendered 11 runs on 11 hits across 4 1/3 innings, with one walk and four strikeouts. C.J. Abrams hit a home run and drove in four runs for Washington, which dropped its third straight after a 3-1 start.
After James Wood began the bottom of the first with a double and Brady House earned a two-out walk, Abrams hit his second homer of the season to put Washington ahead 3-0.
Teoscar Hernandez singled and Pages walked for Los Angeles in the third, before Ohtani’s 401-foot blast evened the score at 3-all.
Tucker followed with a single and Betts connected on a two-run homer to stamp the Dodgers’ five-run third.
Abrams’ RBI single cut into the deficit in the bottom of the third, but Pages added two more Los Angeles runs in the fourth with his second homer of the year for a 7-4 lead.
Freeman’s two-run shot extended the margin to 9-4 in the top of the fifth. After Max Muncy’s single, Hernandez drove in the Dodgers’ 10th run, chasing Mikolas from the game.
Tucker’s RBI single off Gus Varland in the fifth made it 11-4 before the offseason free-agent addition slugged a solo homer against Ken Waldichuk in the seventh. It was his first home run in a Dodgers’ uniform.
Dodgers right-hander Edgardo Henriquez allowed Keibert Ruiz’s RBI double and Jacob Young’s run-scoring groundout in the eighth, closing Washington’s deficit to 12-6.
Ohtani drove in his fourth run with a sac fly in the ninth. Ben Casparius threw a perfect ninth to seal Los Angeles’ victory.
–Field Level Media
