Ohtani homers on first pitch
Shohei Ohtani crushed a home run on the first pitch he saw in an outing that quickly lit up social feeds. (x.com) Other weekend MLB moments included Jordan Walker launching his MLB‑leading seventh homer and Chris Sale throwing six innings with one earned run and six strikeouts on Sunday Night Baseball. (x.com) (x.com)
Shohei Ohtani opened Sunday’s Dodgers game by hammering the first pitch he saw for a leadoff home run, his second straight game starting with a homer. (espn.com) The drive came off Jacob deGrom’s 97.9 mile-per-hour fastball and was Ohtani’s 26th career leadoff homer and fifth home run of the 2026 season. Texas still beat Los Angeles 5-2 on Sunday, April 12. (espn.com) Ohtani had also led off with a home run on Saturday, April 11, when the Dodgers beat the Rangers 6-3. Major League Baseball’s game video said the April 11 shot traveled 390 feet at 104.5 miles per hour off the bat. (espn.com) (mlb.com) The two-game burst pushed Ohtani’s regular-season on-base streak to 46 games, which ESPN listed as the fifth-longest in Dodgers history. Major League Baseball said the April 11 homer had already moved him past Len Koenecke and Zack Wheat on the franchise list since 1900. (espn.com) (mlb.com) The weekend also produced another early-season power marker in St. Louis. Jordan Walker hit his seventh home run on Sunday and Major League Baseball said it gave him sole possession of the Major League lead while extending his hitting streak to eight games. (mlb.com) Walker’s homer came in a 9-3 Cardinals loss to Boston, and Major League Baseball said he became the fourth Cardinals player to reach seven homers in the club’s first 15 games, joining Mark McGwire in 1998, Scott Rolen in 2004 and Albert Pujols in 2006. (mlb.com) On Sunday Night Baseball, Chris Sale gave Atlanta six innings, one earned run and six strikeouts against Cleveland. NBC Sports said the Braves backed him with a big offensive night in a win over the Guardians. (nbcsports.com) Three April games do not define a season, but they do show how quickly the first two weeks can reshape leaderboards and highlight reels. Ohtani entered the weekend with three home runs, Walker finished it atop the home run table with seven, and Sale lowered his earned run average to 3.27 through four starts. (espn.com) (mlb.com) (espn.com/mlb/player/gamelog/_/id/30948/chris-sale) For Ohtani, the loudest swing of the weekend lasted one pitch. The ball left on deGrom’s first offering, and the clip traveled faster than the Dodgers’ comeback did. (espn.com) (youtube.com)
