Shohei Ohtani hit another towering home run on Tuesday, driving in an insurance run in the ninth inning of the Los Angeles Dodgers' 4-1 victory over the Washington Nationals.
Ohtani led off the top of the ninth by crushing a 1-0 splitter from Matt Barnes for his sixth home run of the season. The ball traveled 450 feet into the right-center second deck at Nationals Park.
It was the 29-year-old slugger's 177th homer of his major league career, coming two days and one game after his No. 176 moved him past Hideki Matsui for the most home runs by a Japanese-born major leaguer.
Before Ohtani's blast, James Outman broke a 1-1 tie with an RBI double and Miguel Rojas added a run-scoring single for the Dodgers in the eighth.
Ohtani finished the day 1-for-4 with a walk. Dodgers closer Evan Phillips escaped a bases-loaded jam in the ninth after walking three batters.
At Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida, Detroit Tigers pitcher Kenta Maeda threw five shutout innings in a 4-2 win over the Tampa Bay Rays.
The veteran right-hander allowed three hits, all singles, while walking none and striking out five in a no-decision.
