Ohtani’s big homer and Smith’s 2 blasts help Dodgers end home woes with 5-2 win over Twins

LOS ANGELES, CA — Shohei Ohtani quickly bounced back from a rocky start Monday night, blasting a two-run homer in the bottom of the first inning after surrendering a leadoff shot to fellow All-Star Byron Buxton. His early power surge helped propel the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 5-2 victory over the Minnesota Twins at Dodger Stadium.

The win snapped a six-game home losing streak for the NL West leaders — their longest skid at Chavez Ravine since September 2017. The Dodgers had just been swept over the weekend by the Milwaukee Brewers.

Buxton wasted no time, hammering Ohtani’s second pitch of the night deep into the left-field pavilion. But Ohtani answered right back. After Mookie Betts drew a walk, the two-way star crushed a 441-foot homer to center, giving the Dodgers a 2-1 lead. Ohtani has now homered in three consecutive games.

Will Smith also made his presence felt, going deep twice off Twins starter David Festa (3-4). He led off the fourth inning with a two-strike homer to center, then added a towering 435-foot blast to left, stretching the lead to 4-1.

Rookie Andy Pages chipped in with a solo shot off reliever Cole Sands to cap the Dodgers’ scoring.

On the mound, Dustin May (6-6) took over for Ohtani after three innings. Ohtani allowed one run on four hits and struck out three. May delivered 4 2/3 innings of solid relief, yielding five hits, striking out four, and walking three. Kirby Yates closed it out for his third save of the season.

Freddie Freeman returned to the lineup a day after being hit on the left wrist by a pitch in Sunday’s 6-5 loss to Milwaukee. He went 1-for-4 with a strikeout.

Minnesota’s Carlos Correa, a central figure in the Astros’ 2017 World Series win over L.A., heard loud boos throughout the night. He went 0-for-5 and was robbed of a potential game-tying homer in the ninth by James Outman’s leaping grab at the center-field wall.

Ohtani made a bit of history, becoming the first pitcher to give up and hit a home run in the first inning of the same game since Randy Lerch of the Phillies did it in a wild 23-22 win over the Cubs on May 17, 1979.

Up next: The series continues Tuesday with Twins right-hander Simeon Woods Richardson (5-4, 3.95 ERA) set to face Dodgers righty Yoshinobu Yamamoto (8-7, 2.59 ERA).