Will Smith helps Dodgers shell Twins

LA hits 4 home runs for the first time in 5 weeks, snapping a 3-game skid. Dustin May pitched 4⅔ scoreless innings in his first relief appearance in five years. Dodgers survive scare in 9th

Will Smith homered twice and Shohei Ohtani showed off his power at the plate and on the mound in the Dodgers’ 5-2 win over the Twins on Monday night at Dodger Stadium, snapping a three-game losing streak.

Ohtani homered for the third game in a row, with his first-inning home run on Monday coming with someone on base after new old leadoff man Mookie Betts walked. Those two runs marked the first score in the first inning by the Dodgers since July 8, eight games ago.

In the top of the frame, Byron Buxton hit Ohtani’s second pitch of the game, a sweeper, deep into the pavilion for a solo home run, snapping an eight-inning scoreless streak by Ohtani.

Willi Castro followed by smashing another sweeper but right at Freddie Freeman at first base for an out. Both Buxton and Castro hit triple digits in their exit velocities, but Ohtani stuck with the pitch, throwing six more sweepers, getting three swinging strikes, a called strike, and he finished off one of his three strikeouts on the pitch.

Ohtani allowed three more hits and a walk but permitted no other runs in his three innings, giving him a tidy 1.50 ERA in his 12 pitching innings, with 13 strikeouts against only three walks.

Scoring chances

In the bottom of the fourth inning, Orel Hershiser on the SportsNet LA broadcast was talking about the Dodgers recent scoring woes, and how they were fueled by not creating enough chances with runners in scoring position.

Major league teams on the season entering Monday averaged 9.66 plate appearances per game with runners in scoring position. The Dodgers had lots of trouble earlier in the season in creating those opportunities, but vaulted back up during their incredible May. On the season the Dodgers are in the middle of the pack, averaging 9.58 PA per game with runners in scoring position, and it was just 7.33 per game during the 2-10 stretch through Sunday.

Naturally, immediately after Hershiser made his point, Smith hit a solo home run to put another run on the board.

The Dodgers on Monday batted only four times with a runner in scoring position. They did get a hit, but Michael Conforto’s single to left field in the sixth inning gave Harrison Bader enough time to throw out Freddie Freeman at home plate with room to spare.

But the inning wasn’t a total loss, as Freeman hit his fourth double in the last six games to even be in scoring position. But more importantly, that Freeman was even in the lineup at all was a boon after he was hit by a pitch on his left wrist on Sunday.

Also in the sixth, before Freeman’s double, Smith hit another solo home run for his first multi-homer game since July 5, 2024. The All-Star catcher leads the National League in on-base percentage (.424), batting average (.326), and wRC+ (174).

Andy Pages joined the party with a solo home run in the seventh, giving the Dodgers four home runs for the first time since June 15, which was 29 games ago.

Those solo home runs by Smith and Pages were not only insurance runs, but came with Dustin May in the game, making his first relief appearance since the 2020 postseason. May allowed traffic in each of his five innings, but stranded the five hits and three walks, thanks in part to his four strikeouts. May was pulled with two outs in the eighth inning up four runs, with runners at the corners.

Tanner Scott stranded them to keep May’s ledger clean thanks to a leaping snag of a liner by Tommy Edman at third base. Scott stayed in to open the ninth but allowed a walk and hit a batter and left with one out with a team trainer.

Kirby Yates inherited a full count and threw a ball to Ryan Jeffers, a second walk charged to Scott to load the bases. A flyout brought home one run, then Carlos Correa hit a fly ball to straightaway center field, but his potential game-tying home run instead fell into the waiting glove of a leaping James Outman just in front of the 395-foot sign, allowing the Dodgers to exhale with a much-needed win.

Monday particulars

Home runs: Shohei Ohtani (35) Will Smith 2 (14), Andy Pages (18); Byron Buxton (23)

WP — Dustin May (6-6): 4⅔ IP, 5 hits, 3 walks, 4 strikeouts

LP — David Festa (3-4): 5⅓ IP, 4 hits, 4 runs, 1 walk, 5 strikeouts

Sv — Kirby Yates (3): ⅔ IP, zeroes

Up next

Yoshinobu Yamamoto got an extended rest surrounding the All-Star break and will get the ball on Tuesday night (7:10 p.m.; SportsNet LA, MLB Network), with Simeon Woods Richardson starting for Minnesota.