by Megan Garcia
The long ball was a difference-maker at Progressive Field on Tuesday.
Behind Dustin May’s five innings, Shohei Ohtani, Michael Conforto and Max Muncy each clubbed home runs to propel the Dodgers to a 9–3 win over the Guardians.
Ohtani maintained the top spot of Major League Baseball’s home run category with his 20th in the fourth. As the fly ball traveled to right field, it was a question if it would make it over the wall.
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“It was spun the right way, and it was just one of those balls that it just kept going, like a helium ball,” said manager Dave Roberts of Ohtani’s homer. “It’s true that he has a lot more margin for error than everyone else on the planet — maybe him and (Aaron) Judge.”
His two-run shot extended the Dodger lead to 4–0 after a pair of singles by Andy Pages and Dalton Rushing started the scoring in the second.
It’s taken 18 fewer games for him Ohtani to reach the 20-homer mark this season compared to his historic 2024 season. Ohtani hit his 20th home run in game №72 last season while this year it came in game №54.
Ohtani’s 13 homers in May are a franchise record by a Dodger for the most in May.
Pedro Guerrero and Duke Snider hold the franchise home-run record with 15 homers in a single month. Snider set it in August 1953 while Guerrero tied it in June 1985.
But the Guardians cut it close in the fourth. Second baseman Daniel Schneemann hit a three-run homer against a sinker from May in the fourth, bringing the Dodger lead to one run.
Since May 4, May has surrendered six home runs in five starts.
But on Tuesday, it was the only blemish in May’s pitching line. He finished with a season-high nine strikeouts in five innings pitched with two walks. He threw 90 pitches and landed 57 strikes.
“I thought it was fine,” May said of his start. “Swing-and-miss was there, just one bad pitch. The long ball’s kind of gotten me the last however many starts. So got to try and figure out a way to limit that going forward.”
Conforto’s home-run drought ended and brought needed insurance. His solo homer traveled 406 feet to center field on a Hunter Gaddis fastball in the sixth. It padded the score to 5–3 for the Dodgers.
Conforto went 2-for-3 on Tuesday.
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“I’m sure it was a weight off his shoulders to contribute offensively,” Roberts said. “I thought the swing looked much better. The bat stayed in the hitting zone much longer, to get a base hit and to also hit the homer, I really liked what I saw. It’s good to see things are paying off.”
Then, it was Muncy’s turn in the ninth.
Muncy moved a homer closer to the №7 spot in the Dodgers’ all-time home run leaderboard. His three-run homer in the ninth was his fourth of the year and 194th with the Dodgers. Matt Kemp ranks seventh in Dodger franchise history with 203 homers.
“It was kind of a frustrating night up to that point because I felt like I had several pitches that I should have driven and just missed them,” Muncy said. “I still hit them hard but just missed them (by) getting underneath it. So, to get that one at the end felt really good.”
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Muncy’s homer extended the Dodger lead to 9–3, providing enough breathing room as the Guardians scored two runs against Luis Garcia in the ninth.
With the trio of homers, the Dodgers lead MLB with 87.
A trio of homers pack a punch in the Dodger win over the Guardians was originally published in Dodger Insider on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.