Snapshots: First-place Dodgers keep rolling along at home

Pinch-hitter Will Smith’s walk-off home run gave the Dodgers a 4–3 victory over San Diego on June 18. (Katie Chin/Los Angeles Dodgers)

By Mark Langill

On their longest homestand of the season, the first-place Dodgers went 7–3, winning each series from June 13–22 against the San Francisco Giants, San Diego Padres and Washington Nationals.

The homestand marked the 2025 pitching debut of Shohei Ohtani. When the right-hander started on June 16 against the Padres, he made history on several fronts:

Ohtani became the first National League player to start a game as a pitcher and bat leadoff since Alvin Dark of the 1953 New York Giants and the third overall since 1900. His 79 home runs (at the time of his first start) were the most by a Dodger in history by a player with at least one start as a pitcher.

His fastest pitch of the night, 100.2 mph, was the second-fastest of the season for a Dodger. At the plate, he went 2-for-4 with a run, two RBI and a walk.

On June 14, the Dodgers presented former reliever Joe Kelly with his 2024 World Series ring. Kelly spent parts of five seasons with the Dodgers between 2019 and 2024. (Carrie Giordano/Los Angeles Dodgers)

Ohtani watches the first of his two home runs against the Giants in the Dodgers’ 11–5 victory on June 14. (Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers)

Clayton Kershaw pitched seven scoreless innings on June 14 during an 11–5 victory over the Giants. He scattered three hits and struck out five. (Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers)

(L-R) Emmet Sheehan (four innings) and Justin Wrobleski (five innings) combined to limit San Diego to seven hits in a 4–3 victory on June 18. (Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers)

Smith delivered a walk-off home run in the ninth inning against San Diego reliever Robert Suarez for a 4–3 victory on June 18. (Katie Chin/Los Angeles Dodgers)

Kershaw won his third consecutive game in a 3–2 victory on June 20 against Washington. He struck out four in five innings, raising his career total strikeout to 2,992. (Gary Vasquez/Los Angeles Dodgers)

Miguel Rojas celebrates his third home run of the season at home plate with *Kiké* Hernandez in a 6–5 win over Washington on June 20. Rojas went 2-for-3 with two runs and two RBI. (Gary Vasquez/Los Angeles Dodgers)

Ohtani pitched a scoreless first inning with two strikeouts on June 22. He then belted a three-run triple in the seventh inning and a two-run homer in the eighth. (Carrie Giordano/Los Angeles Dodgers)

Ohtani’s 26th home run of the season on June 22 gave him the National League lead, surpassing Arizona’s Eugenio Suarez. (Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers)

Max Muncy’s first grand slam of the season on June 22 sparked the Dodgers’ 13–7 victory in the homestand finale against Washington. It was the seventh grand slam of Muncy’s career and his 200th home run as a Dodger. (Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers)

Snapshots: First-place Dodgers keep rolling along at home was originally published in Dodger Insider on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.