Shohei Ohtani homered for the first time in five games as his Los Angeles Dodgers blasted five home runs in a 15-2 demolition of the Texas Rangers on Tuesday.
The hosts took a three-run first-inning lead at Dodger Stadium against the defending American League and Major League Baseball champion Rangers.
Ohtani walked and stole his 15th base of the year and scored on Will Smith's three-run homer off Dane Dunning (4-5), who was long out of the game when Ohtani opened the sixth-inning scoring with his 16th home run, a two-run blast that made it a 9-1 game.
Freddie Freeman followed Ohtani with a solo home run before Teoscar Hernandez and Jason Heyward each added two-run shots to round out the seven-run four-homer inning.
Ohtani went 1-for-2 with a strikeout, two walks and three runs. Dodgers lefty James Paxton (6-1) allowed a run over six innings to earn the win.
Toronto Blue Jays lefty Yusei Kikuchi (4-5) threw five scoreless innings, allowing three hits and four walks while striking out five in a 3-0 road win over the Milwaukee Brewers.
"I struggled with my control more than any game this year, but for that reason it's the kind of game one really wants to win," Kikuchi said.
The Boston Red Sox's Masataka Yoshida returned to action for the first time since hurting his left thumb on April 28. He went 0-for-2 with a walk in a 4-1 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies.
