Shohei Ohtani’s leadoff homer powers Dodgers to 7-2 win over Guardians

By: Joe Reedy, The Associated Press Posted: 8:16 PM CDT Monday, May. 26, 2025

CLEVELAND (AP) — Shohei Ohtani hit a leadoff homer for the second straight game and the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Cleveland Guardians 7-2 on Monday night.

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CLEVELAND (AP) — Shohei Ohtani hit a leadoff homer for the second straight game and the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Cleveland Guardians 7-2 on Monday night.

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CLEVELAND (AP) — Shohei Ohtani hit a leadoff homer for the second straight game and the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Cleveland Guardians 7-2 on Monday night.

Will Smith also went deep for the Dodgers, who bounced back after dropping two of three games in New York to the Mets.

Los Angeles’ first five hitters accounted for seven of its eight hits.

Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani, right, is congratulated by third base coach Dino Ebel, left, after hitting a solo home run off Cleveland Guardians starting pitcher Gavin Williams during the first inning of a baseball game, Monday, May 26, 2025, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/David Dermer)

Ohtani didn’t waste any time in hitting his major league-leading 19th homer of the season. He drove a low, inside fastball from Gavin Williams (4-3) on the first pitch into the right-field stands. It was the second time this year he went deep on the first pitch.

It was Ohtani’s fifth leadoff homer this season and 17th since arriving in the majors from Japan in 2018. It is the first time he has had 19 home runs in the majors before June 1.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto (6-3) allowed two runs in six innings and struck out seven. The Japanese right-hander has a 1.97 ERA, which ranks sixth in the majors.

Key moment

The Dodgers got a pair of insurance runs in the fifth on Teoscar Hernández’s RBI single and Max Muncy’s sacrifice fly.

Key stat

Cleveland’s José Ramírez extended his hitting streak to a career-high 19 games with a pair of doubles. He is batting .387 (29 for 75) with 12 extra-base hits and 11 RBIs during that span.

Up next

Los Angeles RHP Dustin May (2-4, 4.09 ERA) faces Cleveland RHP Tanner Bibee (4-4, 3.57 ERA) in the middle game of the series.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb