Tyler Glasnow turned in a dominant start and he was backed by home runs from Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman to help lead the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 3-0 win against the Kansas City Royals. The Dodgers’ win on Father’s Day was their first since 2021.
With the Dodgers coming off a de facto bullpen game because of Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s injury that an MRI revealed to be a right rotator cuff strain, Glasnow provided the pitching staff with needed length.
He limited the Royals to just three hits and collected nine strikeouts against one walk over seven shutout innings. The win was Glasnow’s first since May 4.
Glasnow was provided with a lead in the third inning when Ohtani went to left-center field for a mammoth solo home run. Ohtani connected for his second homer of the game in sixth inning, extending the Dodgers’ lead to 2-0.
Crushed.
(🎥: @MLB) pic.twitter.com/jfL0TVFxXL— Dodger Blue (@DodgerBlue1958) June 16, 2024
Déjà vu.
(🎥: @MLB) pic.twitter.com/6AWPSmQgg3— Dodger Blue (@DodgerBlue1958) June 16, 2024
Freddie makes it back-to-back!
(🎥: @Dodgers) pic.twitter.com/znHiCi4v62— Dodger Blue (@DodgerBlue1958) June 16, 2024
Maybe Dave Roberts should've been a pitcher. Check out his sunflower seeds fastball 😂 pic.twitter.com/ce1XlX9YnA
— Dodger Blue (@DodgerBlue1958) June 17, 2024
Freeman then made it back-to-back home runs with his 10th of the season. Ohtani and Freeman have combined for back-to-back homers three times this season, and overall the Dodgers have accomplished the feat four times thus far in 2024.
Moreover, the Dodgers joined the Baltimore Orioles as the only teams to have five players with at least 10 home runs this season. Their group consists of Ohtani (19), Teoscar Hernández (17), Mookie Betts (10), Freeman (10) and Will Smith (10).
Unfortunately for the Dodgers and Betts, he won’t be adding to his home run total anytime soon. Betts suffered a fractured left hand that is expected to keep him on the injured list for several weeks and possibly multiple months.
Shohei Ohtani’s long home runs
Ohtani’s home run in the third inning traveled 451 feet, which was good for his second-longest of the season. Ohtani is responsible for hitting the three longest home runs at Dodger Stadium this season with blasts of 464 feet, 451 and 450.
Overall in 2024, Ohtani is up to five home runs of at least 440 feet. He trails only Joc Pederson (seven in 2015) and Yasiel Puig (six in 2017) for most such homers in a single season since the Stacast Era began in 2015.
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