{"id":38041,"date":"2025-04-03T03:48:42","date_gmt":"2025-04-03T03:48:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=38041"},"modified":"2025-04-03T03:48:42","modified_gmt":"2025-04-03T03:48:42","slug":"shohei-ohtani-smashes-walk-off-home-run-to-win-dodgers-eighth-straight-to-open-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=38041","title":{"rendered":"Shohei Ohtani Smashes Walk-Off Home Run to Win Dodgers&#8217; Eighth Straight to Open Season"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"tagStyle_jjmvck-o_O-style_gt0nzj-o_O-sidesPadding_1kaga1a\">\n<div>Ohtani delivered for fans on his MVP bobblehead night.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wrapper_e296pg\">\n<div class=\"wrapper_oenkmd\">\n<div class=\"wrapper_1vgzeyt\">\n<div class=\"style_1q03211\">\n<figure class=\"base_1ruub6q\" data-mm-type=\"image\"><picture class=\"base_1emrqjj\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"base_1emrqjj\" title=\"Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani celebrates hitting a walk-off home run.\" src=\"https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,w_517,h_290,x_53,y_1\/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images\/voltaxMediaLibrary\/mmsport\/si\/01jqwva7v4h95kf7rze6.jpg\" alt=\"Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani celebrates hitting a walk-off home run.\" data-uw-rm-alt-original=\"Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani celebrates hitting a walk-off home run.\" data-uw-rm-alt=\"ALT\" \/><\/picture><\/figure>\n<div class=\"wrapper_brpv6a\">Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani celebrates hitting a walk-off home run. \/ Ronald Martinez\/Getty Images<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"inStoryContainer_1r009zu\">\n<div class=\"wrapper_qe1qt7\">\n<p class=\"tagStyle_16dbupz-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_55tqnyv6o\">Shohei Ohtani is\u00a0<em>that<\/em>\u00a0man.<\/p>\n<p class=\"tagStyle_16dbupz-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_ekaz79r1s\">With the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Atlanta Braves tied 5\u20135 in the bottom of the ninth, Ohtani smashed the first pitch he saw for a 399-foot walk-off home run to win the team&#8217;s eighth game of the season.<\/p>\n<p class=\"tagStyle_16dbupz-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_rbgcn6nmx\">It was fitting that Ohtani would win the game for the Dodgers on his own MVP bobblehead night. Fans\u00a0lined up hours in advance\u00a0of the game for a chance to take home one of his bobbleheads, and then the three-time MVP delivered exactly what those fans would&#8217;ve dreamt of seeing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"tagStyle_16dbupz-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_xhw8r1j8c\">Dodger Stadium understandably went wild as Ohtani rounded the bases. His teammates drenched him when he got to home plate.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"style_1y6if9u-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_5eifqcfml\">\n<div class=\"twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered\"><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-0\" class=\"optanon-category-C0004 ot-vscat-C0004 \" title=\"X Post\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?dnt=false&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1907635277809496344&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.si.com%2Fmlb%2Fshohei-ohtani-smashes-walk-off-home-run-dodgers-braves-bobblehead-night&amp;sessionId=8ae3386686805ff38cd428a420d80b994fd6be8b&amp;siteScreenName=SInow&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&amp;width=550px\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-uw-rm-iframe=\"gn\" data-tweet-id=\"1907635277809496344\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"tagStyle_16dbupz-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_en071jqyj\">The Dodgers became the first reigning World Series champion in MLB history to start the season 8\u20130. And, of course, Dodgers fans can thank Ohtani for solidifying that piece of history.<\/p>\n<p class=\"tagStyle_16dbupz-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_wo2eop43t\">Fans were already chanting &#8220;MVP&#8221; at Ohtani as he was doing his post-game interview on the field. Could he be a three-peat? There&#8217;s a lot more baseball left to play this season, but doubt Ohtani at your own peril.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ohtani delivered for fans on his MVP bobblehead night. Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani celebrates hitting a walk-off home run. \/ Ronald Martinez\/Getty Images Shohei&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":38079,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38041","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Shohei Ohtani Smashes Walk-Off Home Run to Win Dodgers&#039; Eighth Straight to Open Season - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=38041\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Shohei Ohtani Smashes Walk-Off Home Run to Win Dodgers&#039; Eighth Straight to Open Season - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ohtani delivered for fans on his MVP bobblehead night. 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