Shohei Ohtani went 3-for-5 with a pair of doubles and a home run and the Los Angeles Dodgers rallied for a 4-2 win over the Minnesota Twins on Monday night in Minneapolis.
James Outman also homered for the Dodgers, who won for the ninth time in 13 games to start the season. Freddie Freeman and Will Smith added one RBI apiece.
Manuel Margot hit a two-run home run for Minnesota, which dropped its third straight game.
Dodgers left-hander James Paxton (2-0) held the Twins to two runs on three hits in six innings. He walked one and struck out four.
Twins right-hander Jay Jackson (0-1) took the loss after giving up two runs on two hits in one inning of relief. Jackson was one of four relievers who followed starter Bailey Ober, who departed after giving up one run on three hits in five innings.
The Dodgers opened the scoring in the top of the first. Mookie Betts drew a leadoff walk, sprinted to third base on a double by Ohtani and came home to score on a sacrifice fly to center field by Freeman.
The Twins grabbed a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the third. After Austin Martin drew a walk, Margot belted a two-run homer an estimated 416 feet to left-center field.
The blast marked Margot’s first home run since joining the Twins and the 53rd of his career. The 29-year-old recorded two double-digit homer seasons with the San Diego Padres and one with the Tampa Bay Rays before joining Minnesota during the offseason — after opening spring training with the Dodgers.
Los Angeles evened the score at 2-2 in the top of the sixth. Ohtani led off the inning with a double, advanced to third base on a single by Freeman and scored on Smith’s single to right field.
In the seventh, the Dodgers hit a pair of solo shots to seize a 4-2 lead. Outman ripped a leadoff blast over the wall in right field for his first homer of the season, and Ohtani followed three batters later with a 362-foot shot to left-center field for his third homer in 13 games with his new team.
–Field Level Media