ANAHEIM, Calif. — A short break appears to have recharged Shohei Ohtani as the Los Angeles Dodgers star recorded a season-best five RBIs while facing his former team on Saturday evening.
Ohtani finished 2-for-4 with a pair of walks and crossed home plate twice during the Dodgers’ commanding 15-2 victory over the Angels — highlighted by a Little League home run during the eighth inning.
“We were hoping to get a reset with a couple days off,” manager Dave Roberts said, “and I think that’s what happened.”
Playing before another strong showing of Dodgers supporters during the second contest of the three-game Freeway Series, Ohtani returned to his spectacular form during the later innings.
During the eighth frame, he launched a ball toward the right field corner that took an unusual bounce off protective netting along the first-base line. Jo Adell initially hesitated on the play, anticipating a ground-rule double call. When no such ruling came, Adell scrambled to recover. His subsequent throw to the infield missed its mark, enabling Ohtani to cross home plate on the error following what began as a two-run triple.
The protective netting extending to both foul poles represents a recent modification to Angel Stadium this season and wasn’t present during Ohtani’s tenure with the Angels from 2018-23, when he captured two American League MVP honors.
“I just kept running,” Ohtani said through a translator in a postgame television interview.
Angels manager Kurt Suzuki unsuccessfully challenged the play, hoping officials would rule that a spectator had interfered with the ball when it struck the netting before returning to the field.
Ohtani later delivered a bases-loaded double during the ninth inning, prompting “MVP” cheers from the crowd while recording his first five-RBI performance since June 22, 2025. The showing marked his third extra-base hit across two games, including a fifth-inning double on Friday, after managing just one such hit during his first 12 May appearances.
His power decline began during a hitless stretch spanning 17 at-bats from April 29 through May 4.
“Just happy to be performing in front of both Dodger fans and Angels fans,” Ohtani said. “I’m really happy I was able to contribute a lot today.”
