Shohei Ohtani homered and the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated toronto 12-2 on Friday, months after he turned down a lucrative free agent offer from the Blue Jays.
Max Muncy’s three-run homer was part of a six-run third inning as Los Angeles (17-11) earned its fifth straight victory. Will Smith hit a home run, an RBI double and a sacrifice fly as the Dodgers racked up 19 hits.
Muncy, Freddie Freeman, Gavin Lux and Mookie Betts drove in runs with hits and Andy Pages added a sacrifice fly for the final run of the game.
Gavin Stone (2-1) allowed just two hits in seven innings, allowing one run and striking out two. Nick Ramirez pitched two scoreless innings of relief.
Danny Jansen homered in the fourth inning as toronto (13-14) absorbed its fourth consecutive loss. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. drove in another run with a groundout in the eighth.
Chris Bassitt (2-4) floundered for 2 2/3 innings, allowing seven runs on nine hits, walking three and striking out four. His clean run average shot up from 3.90 to 5.64 in the short start.
Trevor Richards, Brendon Little, Nate Pearson, Tim Mayza and Erik Swanson came out of the bullpen before third baseman Isiah Kiner-Falefa took the mound to end the game and save the pitcher’s arm.
Ohtani was loudly booed by the 39,688 Rogers Center crowd when Los Angeles’ starting lineup was announced, but former Blue Jays outfielder Teoscar Hernandez was warmly applauded.
toronto He had been in the running to sign Ohtani in the off-season, but the highly prized free agent finally decided to go to the Dodgers, signing a 10-year, $700 million contract on December 11. It is the largest contract in professional sports. history.
Blue Jays manager John Schneider said before the game that he wasn’t sure how fans would react to Ohtani’s first appearance in toronto since the free agent snub.
“The fans are going to think what they want,” Schneider said. “But he didn’t do anything wrong here, you know what I mean?”
However, the Blue Jays faithful clearly did not forget the snub and loudly booed Ohtani for all of his at-bats.
He didn’t flinch from the taunts and smashed the third pitch he saw into deep right field in the first inning. His seventh of the season on an 83.2 mph Bassitt slider flew 360 feet.
The Dodgers staged a third-inning comeback to build an impressive lead.
Freeman singled to score Betts from second and advance Ohtani to second. Smith then came to the plate, launching a single to left field that scored Ohtani and moved Freeman to third.
Muncy’s towering home run to deep right field cleared the bases for a commanding 6-0 Dodgers lead with no outs. The fifth of the year was launched at a 42-degree angle with an exit velocity of 107.6 mph, traveling 366 feet.
Hernández singled as the seventh consecutive Los Angeles batter reached base, all before toronto He was able to record an out, but Bassitt then fanned James Outman and induced a fly ball by Pages. Lux’s hit drove Hernandez in as the Dodgers went through their entire batting order in the inning.
Bassitt walked Betts, the 10th batter he faced in the inning, ending his night. Richards then induced an Ohtani grounder to first base, but the damage was done: The Blue Jays allowed six hits, two walks, three stolen bases and six runs in one inning.
Smith kept Los Angeles going in the fourth inning with his second home run of the year. His liner to left field came on an 80 mph changeup from Richards. The hard-hit ball had an exit velocity of 108 mph and traveled 360 feet for an 8-0 Dodgers lead.
Jansen responded by toronto and cheered up the fans again in the fourth with his first home run of the year. He worked Stone to a full count before taking a 93.8 mph sinker to deep left field.
The Blue Jays catcher missed the start of the season with a broken hand.
Betts drove in another run for Los Angeles in the fifth, doubling Home Pages.
Muncy cashed in on Smith an inning later, with his base hit driving in the Dodgers catcher. A sacrifice fly by Pages gave Muncy enough time to trot home and take an 11-1 Dodgers lead.
toronto He cut that considerable lead when Guerrero grounded out to shortstop Miguel Rojas, who decided to throw to first instead of home, allowing Cavan Biggio to cross the plate.
Smith added one more run in the ninth with his sacrifice fly off Kiner-Falefa, a position player, scoring Rojas.
ON DECK – Yusei Kikuchi (2-1) will start for the Blue Jays on Saturday afternoon.
The Dodgers will counterattack with Tyler Glasnow (4-1).
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 26, 2024.