Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Ohtani's Walk-off Homer Boosts Dodgers to 8-0 With Another Comeback Win
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 3 weeks ago on
April 3, 2025

Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani hits a walk-off solo home run against as Atlanta Braves catcher Atlanta Braves' Chadwick Tromp looks on during the ninth inning of a baseball game Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP/Kevork Djansezian)

Share

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

LOS ANGELES — Shohei Ohtani met the moment again, and his latest theatrics have the Los Angeles Dodgers perfect to start the season.

The Japanese superstar hit a tiebreaking home run in the ninth inning on his bobblehead night, lifting the Dodgers over the winless Atlanta Braves 6-5 on Wednesday.

“If I didn’t get a good pitch to hit, I was willing to walk,” Ohtani said through a translator. “Coming into the inning, tied in that last at-bat, it just felt like we really had a good shot to win.”

Dodgers Start Season at 8-0

At 8-0, the Dodgers are off to the best start ever by a defending World Series champion. They’ve trailed in six of those games, but they already have two walk-off wins. And Ohtani has scored in every game.

“Overall, not just tonight, there is a really good vibe within the team,” he said, “so I just think that’s allowing us to come back in these games to win.”

A crowd of 50,281 roared as Ohtani’s 399-foot shot sailed into center field and he rounded the bases.

“You just feel he’s going to do something special,” manager Dave Roberts said.

It was hardly a surprise coming from last year’s NL MVP.

In 2024, his first season with the Dodgers, Ohtani hit a game-ending grand slam on his first bobblehead night. He had a walk-off homer on another of his giveaway nights.

“He keeps getting into these situations and moments where you’re expecting the unthinkable out of him and he rarely disappoints. That’s really saying something,” said teammate Max Muncy, whose two-run double tied the game in the eighth and set the stage for Ohtani.

Dodgers starter Blake Snell said: “When he was coming up and it’s his bobblehead night — everyone knew. We knew. It’s just what he does.”

Dodger Fans Line Up for Ohtani Bobbleheads

Thousands lined up hours before first pitch to secure the first of four Ohtani bobbleheads this season. As like last year, traffic snarled around the stadium with helicopters showing the chaos on local television.

“Just grateful as a player to just be able to perform and have an opportunity like this,” said Ohtani, who finished 3 for 5. “I think the credit really goes to Max Muncy to be able to pull through and tie the game.”

Muncy ditched the new torpedo bat he had used earlier in favor of his usual lumber.

“I do think there was some good to using the torpedo bat, just in BP and everything,” he said. “It might be something that I use as a practice bat and then go back to my bat for the game. It seemed to work that last at-bat.”

The Dodgers rallied from a 5-0 deficit after Muncy’s two early errors at third base led to five unearned runs by the Braves against Snell, a two-time Cy Young Award winner making his second start for his new team.

“I was dumbfounded with the way we were playing. I didn’t recognize that club in the first couple of innings,” Roberts said. “We had no business winning that game, but to our guys’ credit we just kept fighting.”

The bullpen picked up Snell, allowing just three hits over the final five innings. Rookie reliever Jack Dreyer earned his first major league win with two hitless innings.

“We all believe,” Snell said. “We got each other’s backs, and it’s a good feeling to have.”

For Muncy, it seems similar to last year’s never-say-die attitude that helped the Dodgers to their eighth World Series title.

“We’ve been carrying it into this season. It’s been fun to watch,” he said. “The guys don’t give up. No one’s really been down or out on themselves. Just seeing the guys in the clubhouse come together like that, it’s a pretty cool moment.”

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Yastrzemski and Chapman Homers Help Giants Rally Past the Brewers

DON'T MISS

Fresno City Council Finally Passes a Tough Smoke Shop Ordinance

DON'T MISS

Fresno Unified Trustee Wittrup Says District Had Stronger Candidates Than Misty Her

DON'T MISS

Trump Poised to Offer Saudi Arabia Over $100 Billion Arms Package, Sources Say

DON'T MISS

Lights, Camera, Board Vote: Fresno Unified’s Carefully Choreographed Production

DON'T MISS

US Farm Agency Withdraws Proposal Aimed at Lowering Salmonella Risks in Poultry

DON'T MISS

On Major Economic Decisions, Trump Blinks, and Then Blinks Again

DON'T MISS

Candi Is the Dandy to Add a Little Sweetness to Your Life

DON'T MISS

How Trump Tariffs Could Upend California Farms, Wine Businesses, and Ports

DON'T MISS

Tulare Man Sentenced to State Prison for DUI Crash That Injured Two Women

UP NEXT

Fresno City Council Finally Passes a Tough Smoke Shop Ordinance

UP NEXT

Fresno Unified Trustee Wittrup Says District Had Stronger Candidates Than Misty Her

UP NEXT

Trump Poised to Offer Saudi Arabia Over $100 Billion Arms Package, Sources Say

UP NEXT

Lights, Camera, Board Vote: Fresno Unified’s Carefully Choreographed Production

UP NEXT

US Farm Agency Withdraws Proposal Aimed at Lowering Salmonella Risks in Poultry

UP NEXT

On Major Economic Decisions, Trump Blinks, and Then Blinks Again

UP NEXT

Candi Is the Dandy to Add a Little Sweetness to Your Life

UP NEXT

How Trump Tariffs Could Upend California Farms, Wine Businesses, and Ports

UP NEXT

Tulare Man Sentenced to State Prison for DUI Crash That Injured Two Women

UP NEXT

Judge Partly Blocks Trump Order Seeking to Overhaul US Elections

Trump Poised to Offer Saudi Arabia Over $100 Billion Arms Package, Sources Say

8 hours ago

Lights, Camera, Board Vote: Fresno Unified’s Carefully Choreographed Production

9 hours ago

US Farm Agency Withdraws Proposal Aimed at Lowering Salmonella Risks in Poultry

9 hours ago

On Major Economic Decisions, Trump Blinks, and Then Blinks Again

9 hours ago

Candi Is the Dandy to Add a Little Sweetness to Your Life

10 hours ago

How Trump Tariffs Could Upend California Farms, Wine Businesses, and Ports

10 hours ago

Tulare Man Sentenced to State Prison for DUI Crash That Injured Two Women

11 hours ago

Judge Partly Blocks Trump Order Seeking to Overhaul US Elections

11 hours ago

Two From Search Group That Uncovered Mexico’s ‘Ranch of Horror’ Killed

12 hours ago

US Warns States They Could Lose Transportation Funding Over Immigration, DEI Policies

12 hours ago

Yastrzemski and Chapman Homers Help Giants Rally Past the Brewers

SAN FRANCISCO — Mike Yastrzemski and Matt Chapman homered as the San Francisco Giants rallied to beat the Milwaukee Brewers 6-5 on Thursday ...

6 hours ago

6 hours ago

Yastrzemski and Chapman Homers Help Giants Rally Past the Brewers

6 hours ago

Fresno City Council Finally Passes a Tough Smoke Shop Ordinance

7 hours ago

Fresno Unified Trustee Wittrup Says District Had Stronger Candidates Than Misty Her

President Donald Trump delivers remarks during an 'Unleashing American Energy' event at the Department of Energy in Washington, U.S., June 29, 2017. (REUTERS File)
8 hours ago

Trump Poised to Offer Saudi Arabia Over $100 Billion Arms Package, Sources Say

9 hours ago

Lights, Camera, Board Vote: Fresno Unified’s Carefully Choreographed Production

Chickens sit at a poultry farm. March 12, 2025. (REUTERS/Diego Vara/File Photo)
9 hours ago

US Farm Agency Withdraws Proposal Aimed at Lowering Salmonella Risks in Poultry

9 hours ago

On Major Economic Decisions, Trump Blinks, and Then Blinks Again

Candi, GV Wire's Adoptable Cat of the Week
10 hours ago

Candi Is the Dandy to Add a Little Sweetness to Your Life

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend